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John  Swett 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/essentialsofmethOOdegarich 


THE 

ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 


A  DISCUSSION  OF  THE  ESSENTIAL  FORM  OF  RIGHT 
METHODS  IN  TEACHING. 


©bstrbation,  ©eneralijation,  Application. 


REVISED  EDITION, 


CHARLES  DeGARMO,  Ph.D. 

President  of  Swarthmore  College,  Swarthmore,  Pa. 


BOSTON,  U.S.A. : 

D.  C.  HEATH  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS. 

1893. 


(> 


V  yl<c- 


Copyright,  1892, 
Bv  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


PREFACE. 


A  NALOGIES  play  an  important  role  in  all  explanations 
of  mental  phenomena.  This  is  true  because  nearly  all 
our  terms  for  mental  processes  and  products  are  borrowed 
from  sense.  Among  the  many  analogical  theories  of  mind, 
and  hence  of  education,  two  are  particularly  prominent: 
(1)  That  which  regards  the  soul  as  a  germ,  containing  by 
involution  that  which  it  is  to  become  by  evolution,  —  a  self- 
active  power  which  seizes  upon  its  surroundings,  appropriat- 
ing what  is  useful  for  the  development  of  its  predetermined 
form  and  content ;  and  (2)  that  theory  which  regards  the 
mind  at  any  given  stage  of  its  development  as  the  resultant 
of  the  manifold  forces  of  its  environment,  as  a  product 
more  externally  than  internally  produced. 

The  first  of  these  views  may  be  called  the  germ  theory  of 
education ;  the  second,  the  architectural  theory.  According 
to  the  first  notion,  the  mind  is  a  self -producer  of  a  predeter- 
mined product.  According  to  the  second,  it  is  the  result 
produced  by  the  educational  architect.  The  first  conception 
makes  the  teacher  merely  a  gardener;  the  second  makes 
him  an  architect  of  mind.     The  first  demands  no  science  of 

3 

54  1730 


4,  V   \  :^\  './  PREFACE, 

•8duca)fci;on ':f rom  tlie  subject-matter  side;  the  second  compels 
a  study  of  mind  in  its  more  mechanical  aspects,  and  a 
pedagogical  adjustment  of  the  matter  of  education  to  the 
laws  of  mind-structure.  It  finds  the  science  of  instruction 
to  consist  in  giving  rise  to  concepts,  in  co-ordinating  and 
properly  relating  them.  According  to  this  idea,  the  science 
of  education  is  the  science  of  the  concept, — knowledge, 
thought-power,  intensity  and  direction  of  will,  follow  from 
an  application  of  the  architectonics  of  concepts. 

At  first  view,  these  two  theories  are  mutually  exclusive ; 
but  a  more  careful  examination  shows  them  to  be  mutually 
complementary.  The  germ  theory  finds  its  truth  in  the  idea 
of  the  self-activity  of  the  mind  to  be  educated,  and  in  the 
fact  that  the  form  of  all  mental  activity  in  knowing,  feeling, 
and  willing  is  predetermined,  just  as  the  form  of  the  oak 
is  involved  in  the  acorn.  But  this  analogy  breaks  down 
when  the  content  of  mind  is  considered.  How  knowledge 
shall  be  acquired,  held  and  expressed  is  as  much  predeter- 
mined in  the  infant's  mind,  as  the  ultimate  form  of  the 
plant  is  involved  in  the  seed  from  which  it  springs,  —  the 
acorn  never  produces  the  maple ;  but  what  this  knowledge 
shall  be  is  not  predetermined.  A  child  left  at  birth  upon 
an  uninhabited  island,  and  nourished  by  beasts,  would  be- 
come a  beast,  at  least  so  far  as  the  content  of  knowledge  is 
concerned.  The  practical  content  of  man's  knowledge  and 
judgment,  and  hence  of  his  will  and  character,  depends 


PREFACE.  5 

upon  influences  and  positive  forces  exterior  to  himself. 
Here  the  architectural  theory  of  education  finds  its  truth  •, 
for,  IV hat  a  man  knows,  the  whole  content  of  his  knowing, 
judging,  and  willing,  depends  upon  the  kind,  amount,  and 
arrangement  of  the  subject-matter  of  education.'  In  this 
view,  the  office  of  the  teacher  is  magnified :  the  pedagogy 
of  the  subjects  of  instruction  becomes  of  the  greatest 
importance. 

Again,  these  two  theories  of  education  are  but  two  figura- 
tive expressions  for  the  manifest  truth,  that  thei'e  is  a 
method  in  the  child,  and  a  method  in  the  subject  of  study. 
A  complete  pedagogy  of  instruction  brings  these  two  ele- 
ments into  harmony,  makes  them  complementary  the  one 
to  the  other.  The  method  in  the  subject  at  any  stage 
exactly  fits  a  corresponding  stage  of  development  in  the 
method  in  the  child.  In  other  words,  the  development  in 
the  subject  must  be  made  at  all  stages  to  fit  the  devel- 
opment of  the  child.  For  this  reason,  the  germ  and 
architectural  theories  of  education  do  not  exclude  but 
complement  each  other,  and  neither  of  them  can  be  spared 
from  a  perfected  science  of  education. 

The  present  work  deals  with  one  phase  of  this  adjust- 
ment of  subject-matter  to  mind.  It  seeks  to  find  the  essen- 
tial forms  of  methods  of  instruction,  as  determined  by  the 
general  law  of  development  in  the  mind  of  the  child.  It 
has  therefore  nothing  to  do  with  the  content  of  knowledge, 


6  PBEFACE. 

but  concerns  itself  solely  with  an  inquiry  as  to  how  we  learn, 
and  consequently  how  we  must  teach. 

Three-sidedness  is  a  universal  property  of  triangles,  so 
is  triangularity ;  just  so,  there  are  certain  necessary  and 
universal  characteristics  of  all  rational  methods  of  teaching. 
To  discover,  through  an  analysis  of  the  mental  activities 
involved  in  knowing,  what  these  essential  elements  of  a 
good  method  are,  is  the  function  of  this  volume. 


CONTENTS. 

PART  I. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  BASIS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  INDIVIDUAL  NOTION. 
§  1.    Formation  and  Significance  of  the  Individual 

Notion 13 

§  2.    Extension  of  this  Term  to  apply  to  the  Product 

OF  Internal  Perception 15 

THE  GENERAL  NOTION. 

§  3.  Language  reveals  the  Nature  of  'Thought.  — 
A  Study  of  the  Noun.  —  The  Common  Noun 
expresses  the  General  Notion.  —  Extent  of 
the  Noun  (Notion) 18 

§4.  Content  of  the  Noun  (Notion).  —  Relation  of 
Content  and  Extent.  —  Psychological  vs.  Logi- 
cal YiEW.  —  How  Children  form  General 
Notions 19 

§  5.  A  General  Notion  cannot  be  imaged.  — A  Scheme 
for  the  Formation  of  Individual  Images.  — 
Expressed  in  a  Definition 21 

§  6.  Extension  of  Term  General  Notion  to  apply  to 
ANY  General  Truth,  whether  expressed  in  a 
Definition,  a  Law,  a  Rule,  a  Principle,  or  a 

Moral  Maxim 22 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   II. 

APPEECEPTION;  OR,  THE  ASSIMILATION  OF  KNOWLEDGE. 
§  7.    A  Popular  View  of  Apperception    ....      24 

§  8.      x^PPERCEPTION    IMPLIED    IN    COMMON     MENTAL    PRO- 
CESSES       28 

§  9.    Scientific  View  of  Apperception     ....      33 
§  10.    Relation  of  Apperception  to  the  Association  of 

Ideas 37 

§  11.  Psychological  Nature  of  Apperception  ex- 
plained FROM  the  Standpoint  of  the  Judg- 
ment        41 

PAET   II. 

NECESSARY  STAGES  OF  RATIONAL  METHODS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

APPERCEPTION  OF  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS. 

§  12.    Motives    for   the   Study   of  the  Conditions   of 

Apperception 45 

§33.  Native  Spontaneity  of  Mind  inadequate. — A 
Function  of  the  Teacher  to  prepare  the  Mind 
FOR  Rapid  and  Efficient  Assimilation  of  New 
Knowledge "...      45 

§  14.    Two  Kinds   of   Activity    on    the    Part   of   the 

Teacher  :  (1)  Preparation,  (2)  Presentation    .      46 

PREPARATION. 

§  15.    Definition  of  Preparation 46 

§  16.    Relation   of   Preparation  to    the    Analytical 

Judgment 46 

§  17.    Kind  and  Place  of  Preparation.  —  Main  Points 

to  be  observed  in  Preparation 47 


CONTENTS.  9 

presentation. 

§  18.    Relation  of  Presentation  to  the  Synthetical 

Judgment 51 

§  19.  Points  involved  in  Presentation,  but  not  hebe 
developed,  such  as  the  arrangement  of  the 
Curriculum  according  to  the  Historical 
Stages  of  Culture,  and  to  Concentration       .      52 

law  of  successive  clearness. 

§  20.    Explanation  of  this  Law 53 

§  21.  Clear  Apprehension  of  Individual  Facts  of  the 
Lesson,  and  then  their  Synthesis. — "Step  by 

Step" 55 

§  22.    Illustrations 56 

THE   SERIES. 

§  23.  How  THE  Series  arises  from  Time  Conditions.  — 
Illustration  of  a  Mechanical  Series.  —  Re- 
membering THE  Series 57 

§  24.    Breaking  vs.  Extending  the  Series  ....      58 
§  25.    Time  and  Attention  the  Conditions  for  fixing 

the  Series  in  Memory 60 

CHAPTER  IV. 

TEANSITION  FROM  INDIVIDUAL  TO  GENERAL  NOTIONS. 
general  view. 

§  26.    Necessity  of  Generalization.  —  Illustrations.  — 

Lessing  quoted 61 

§  27.  Simultaneity  of  Notions  in  Consciousness  neces- 
sary TO  THE  Formation  of  the  General  Notion  .      64 

§  28.    Pure  Time  Associations  vs.  Logical  Association  .      64 

§  29.    Comparison    of    Individual  Notions.  —  Thought, 

NOT  Imagination,  the  Subject  of  Investigation,      65 

§  30,  Process  involved  in  Comparison  of  Notions  pres- 
ent TO  Consciousness.  —  How  do  New  Classes 

arise,  or  what  is  THE  NATURE  OF  INDUCTION?  .        65 


10  CONTENTS. 

§  31.     Dr.  W.  T.  Harris's  Explanation.  —  New  Light  on 

Apperception 66 

§  32.    Nouns  express  General   Notions.  —  The  Maxim, 

"  First  the  Idea,  then  the  Word,"  examined      .      71 

§  33.  Progress  from  Individual  to  General  Notions 
necessary  at  all  stages  of  school  life. — 
A  Great  Problem  in  Pedagogics,  —  Pestaloz- 
zi's  View. — Educational  Movements  vibrate 
between  Underived  Generals  andUngeneral- 
izED  Particulars. — The  Golden  Mean        .        .      73 

SPECIFIC   CONSIDERATIONS. 

§  34.    A  Distinction  needful  between  Mathematical 

AND  Non-Mathematical  Generalizations  .        .      75 

§  35.    A  priori   Nature    of    Mathematical    Truths.  — 

Illustrations  enable  the  Mind  to  grasp  them  .      75 

§  36.     General     Notions     pertaining     to      External 

Nature.  —  Illustrations 77 

§  37.  How  TO  generalize  in  Political,  Social,  or  Ethi- 
cal Matters .78 

§  38.    ^Esthetic  and  Religious  Generalizations    .        .      79 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  RETURN  FROM  GENERAL  TO  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS. 
§  39.    This  the  Third  Grand  Stage  of  Methods.  — Lange 

AND   PeSTALOZZI  QUOTED 81 

§40.  Kant's  Dictum.  —  Knowledge  must  have  a  Full, 
Rich  Content.  —  This  is  gained  by  the  Per- 
sistent Application  of  Generals         ...      82 

§  41.  Application  secures  Permanency  to  Generaliza- 
tions        83 

§  42.  Bearing  of  Application  of  Generals  to  Practi- 
cal Affairs  of  Life 83 

§  43.  Co-ordination  of  Knowledge  secured  by  a  Con- 
stant Return  from  General  to  Individual 
Notions 84 


CONTENTS.  11 

§  44.  Cbitique  of  Customary  Methods  of  teaching  the 
Various  School  Studies,  in  the  Light  of  Fore- 
going Exposition  of  the  Essential  Form  of 
Right  Methods 85 

CHAPTER  VI. 

ADDITIONAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

method-wholes. 

§  45.  Proper  Subdivision  of  Subject-matter.  —  Princi- 
ples IN  Accordance  with  which  this  must  be 
DONE 8S 

RELATION  OF  SO-CALLED  "METHODS"    TO  THE    ESSENTIAL 

FORMS. 

§  46.  Methods  of  Instruction  may  be  regarded  from 
Three  Standpoints  :  (1)lthe  Learner,  (2)  the 
Matter  taught,  and  (3)  the  Teacher.  —  Forms 
OF  Thought,  —  the  Notion,  the  Judgment,  the 
Syllogism, —HENCE  Three  Kinds  of  Methods: 
Explication,  Predication,  Demonstration.  — 
Methods  with  Regard  to  Matter  taught  :  Ana- 
lytical, Synthetical;  with  Regard  to  Teacher: 
the  Monologue,  the  Dialogue        ....      91 


PAKT   III. 

PRACTICAL.  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
§  47.    Introductory  Summary 94 

liANGUAGE. 

§48.    Oral    Language-lesson    for    First   Grade:    the 

Wren  and  the  Bear 94 

§  49.  Oral  Language-lesson  for  Second  or  Third 
Grade:  the  Shipwreck  (adapted  from  "Rob- 
inson Crusoe")    .        . 99 


12  CONTENTS. 

§  50.  Oral.  Language-lesson  for  Third  or  Fourth 
Grade:  Paris  and  Helen  (adapted  from  the 
Iliad) 103 

§  51.    A   Lesson   in    Grammar  :    What    are   the  Essen- 
tial Elements  of  a  Sentence  ?       .  •      .        .        .    107 

§52.    A  Lesson   in    Advanced  Grammar:    Nature  and 

Use  of  the  Adjective 109 

ARITHMETIC. 

§  53.    Number-lesson  for  the  First  Grade  :  The  Num- 
ber Three,  Addition  and  Subtraction      .        .     114 
§54.    Fourth-grade    Arithmetic-lesson:    To    multiply 

A  Fraction  by  an  Integer 118 

READING. 

§  55.    Treatment  of  a  KEjgDiNG-LESSON  in  Lower  and 

Middle  Classes 120 

§  56.    General  Plan  for   Memorizing    in    the    Lower 

Classes 121 

§  57.    A  Model  Exercise.  —  Excelsior 122 

GEOGRAPHY. 

§  58.    Geography    founded     on    Actual    Observation 

BY  THE  Children       .......    126 

HISTORY. 

§  59,    Course    of  an  Oral    History-lesson   in  Middle 

and  Lower  Classes 132 


THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 


PART    I. 
PSYCHOLOGICAL    BASIS. 


CHAPTEE,  I. 

THE  INDIVIDUAL   NOTION. 

§  1.  All  mental  activity  is  based  upon  the  results  of 
sense-perception,  with  which  it  starts.  It  is  inconceivable 
that  a  living  being  having  no  use  of  the  senses  could  have 
any  mental  life.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  mental  life  pre- 
supposes more  than  a  mere  use  of  the  senses,  but  it  presup- 
poses this  also.  This  element  can  be  omitted  from  the 
notion  of  intellectual  activity  no  more  than  a  necessary 
element  of  any  other  notion  can  be  omitted  without  de- 
stroying the  notion.  Thus,  who  could  think  a  triangle 
with  one  side  left  out,  or  a  straight  line  with  a  curve  in  it, 
or  a  pair  of  scissors  with  one  blade  missing,  or  a  train  of 
cars  with  no  rear  car?  Since,  then,  all  mental  activity 
presupposes  and  starts  with  knowledge  gained  through  the 
senses,  it  is  obvious  that  we  should  understand  the  nature 
of  this  knowledge,  in  order  to  gain  any  rational  insight  into 
the  principles  of  right  methods. 

The  senses  furnish  us  that  ivhich  we  call  the  individual 

13 


'  14       .  '•/'   •  i'.fe^'  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

'  iiptt<k^^'  *  JjppJ^ijig  a]Di^ut  my  study  table,  I  perceive,  through 
the  sense  of  sight,  an  inkstand,  a  pen,  a  book,  a  letter. 
Each  of  these  is,  like  every  other  single  thing,  an  individual 
object.  The  image,  or  idea,  which  my  sense  of  sight  gives  me 
of  each  of  these  individual  objects  is  appropriately  called  an 
individual  notion.  (Many  other  names  besides  notion  are 
in  common  use  for  the  same  thing.  Thus,  one  often  hears 
the  terms,  perceptio7i,  percept,  idea,  mental  picture  or  image, 
ijidividual  concept,  etc.)  In  the  same  manner,  by  passing 
through  a  room  in  the  dark,  one  may  get  individual  notions 
of  a  rocking-chair,  a  table,  a  hanging  lamp,  through  the 
sense  of  touch  alone.  Through  the  sense  of  hearing,  we 
get  individual  notions  of  a  piece  of  music,  the  song  of  a 
bird,  the  whistle  of  a  boy,  the  ringing  of  a  bell.  Each  of 
the  senses  may,  alone,  give  an  individual  notion  of  some 
one  thing.  Generally,  however,  they  work  together,  each 
supporting  and  re-enforcing  the  others,  and  helping  to  give 
a  more  complete  notion  of  the  thing  under  consideration. 
A  boy,  for  instance,  gets  a  notion  of  the  object  apple  by 
seeing  it;  yet  he  gets  a  more  complete  and  satisfactory 
notion  of  it  by  touching  it,  smelling  it,  tasting  it.  But  the 
whole  complex  of  his  sensations  of  the  apple  goes  to  .make 
up  what  we  have  called  his  individual  notion  of  it. 

A  moment's  reflection  shows  that  this  individual  notion, 
though  it  is  of  a  single  thing,  is  in  itself  very  complex. 
Think  of  the  boy's  apple :  there  are  the  form  and  color, 
which  appeal  to  the  eye ;  the  qualities  of  solidity  and 
smoothness,  which  appeal  to  the  touch  ;  the  fragrant  quali- 
ties,  which  appeal  to  the  smell ;  and  those  other  properties 
which  appeal  to  the  taste.  Just  so,  every  individual  notion 
is  a  complex,  or  synthesis,  of  many  elements.  But  all 
knowledge,  and  hence  all  education,  begins  with  these  com- 
plex individual  notions.     One  should  therefore  think  twice 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  NOTION.  15 

before  trying  to  apply  such  educational  maxims  as,  Proceed 
from  the  simple  to  the  complex.  From  the  foregoing,  it  is 
easy  to  see  that  this  maxim  is  not  universal  in  its  applica- 
tion., 

§  2.  But^  for  the  science  of  methods,  we  must  extend  our 
idea  of  the  individual  notion  beyond  mere  perceptions  of  objects 
(fained  through  the  senses. 

As  ordinarily  understood,  an  individual  notion  is  the  com- 
plex of  all  the  sensations  which  we  have  of  a  thing.  It  is, 
therefore,  not  an  immediately  given  individual  concept,  but 
it  presupposes  sensations,  reproductions,  time  and  space 
forms,  also  the  notion  of  our  own  body,  and  its  distinction 
from  the  rest  of  the  external  world.  Sensations,  however, 
are  nothing  to  mind  until  jjerceived.  Perception  is  then 
the  first  form  of  knowledge.  It  is  nothing  more  than  the 
synthesis  of  the  nerve  excitations  with  the  soul  states 
produced  by  them.  The  perception  (Anschauung)  is  the 
psychical  image  of  the  single  thing,  the  individual  exist- 
ence. The  internally  or  externally  observed  bird,  "  robin," 
is  a  definite  individual ;  determinate  as  to  color,  size,  form, 
voice,  and  all  that  observation  furnishes  regarding  him.  The 
notion  of  a  species  or  genus  (general  notion)  cannot  be  ob- 
served. (Compare  Drbal,  "Empirische  Psychologic,"  p.  161.) 
This  notion  of  the  perception  of  individual  objects  in  space 
through  the  senses  has  been  extended  very  generally  by 
German  authors,  to  an  inner  perception  (innere  Anschauung) 
of  individual  notions  not  given  by  the  senses.  For  instance, 
in  grammar,  the  relation  of  one  word  to  another  may  be 
perceived  even  though  the  outward  form  gives  no  hint  of 
the  relation ;  as,  a  noun  in  the  nominative  or  objective  case. 
As  can  readily  be  seen,  this  extension  is  very  convenient 
for  pedagogy,  since  it  helps  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  we 
reach  general  laws  only  through  individual  facts. 


16  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

Pfisterer  ("  Padagogische  Psychologie,"  p.  229)  remarks : 
"We  distinguish  commonly,  and  not  without  reason,  a 
double  observation  (Anschauung),  an  outer  and  an  inner. 
The  outer  observation  is  that  mediated  through  the  senses ; 
the  inner  is  quite  as  much  an  observation  by  means  oi  the 
inner  senses  as  it  is  an  observation  of  what  goes  on  within. 
An  observation  by  means  of  the  inner  senses  is  neces- 
sary, because  not  only  all  processes  of  the  inner  world, 
but  also  many  phenomena  and  activities  of  the  outer  world, 
especially  all  that  pertain  to  historical  and  social  life, 
cannot  at  all  or  but  partially  and  with  great  effort  be 
brought  under  the  observation  of  the  senses.  What  re- 
mains but  to  bring  them  under  inne?^  spiritual  observa- 
tion, or  to  lead  them  before  the  inner  senses  (powers  of 
presentation  and  imagination)  by  vivid  description  or 
narration  ?  By  means  of  these,  the  child's  mind  can  and 
should  get  a  more  or  less  clear  image  of  a  thing  or  activity, 
and  mentally  '  see '  and  enjoy  it,  without  ever  having  per- 
ceived it  in  this  form  by  the  senses." 

If  I  take  two  pieces  of  paper  of  the  same  shape  and  size, 
fold  each  of  them  into  eight  equal  parts,  and  tear  off  five 
parts  from  each  paper,  I  shall  find  by  counting  that  I  have 
six  parts  left.  By  means  of  this  concrete  illustration,  I 
have  received  an  individual  notion  of  the  fact,  that  |  x  2  =  f . 
In  this  case,  my  notion  is  not  of  an  object,  but  of  certain 
numerical  relations ;  yet  it  is  a  notion  of  an  individual  case 
of  these  relations,  and  is,  hence,  just  as  truly  a  concrete  or 
individual  notion  as  that  gained  from  seeing,  touching, 
smelling,  and  tasting  the  apple. 

If  I  take  a  vessel  with  a  spout,  fill  it  full  of  water,  place 
a  floating  body  upon  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  then 
compare  the  weight  of  the  displaced  water  with  the 
weight   of  the   floating   body,  I   shall   get   an   individual 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  NOTION,  17 

notion,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  a  concrete  illustration 
of  the  fact  that  a  floating  body  displaces  its  own  weight  of 
water. 

What  is  true  of  the  physical  world  and  its  relations  is 
equally  true  of  the  spiritual  world  and  its  relations.  In 
the  pages  of  history  we  get  concrete  or  individual  notions, 
of  bravery,  of  vigilance,  of  celerity,  of  the  nobility  of 
patriotism,  of  the  vanity  and  wickedness  of  ambition,  of 
the  contemptibleness  of  cowardice,  indecision,  or  treason. 
A  moral  truth,  though  it  cannot  be  presented  to  the  senses, 
may  be  individualized,  or  made  concrete,  by  concrete  illus- 
tration; as,  through  the  story  of  George  Washington  and 
his  hatchet.  Every  fable  is  the  concrete  illustration  of 
some  moral  or  intellectual  truth,  and  thus  gives  an  individual 
notion  of  this  truth.  In  the  same  way  moral  lessons  are 
individualized  throughout  our  history  and  in  most  of  our 
imaginative  stories. 

The  main  point  in  this  whole  matter  is  that  our  knoivledge 
starts  with  the  individual  notion,  whether  it  is  of  the  things 
of  sense,  of  their  relations,  or  of  the  concrete  embodiment 
of  any  purely  intellectual  or  moral  truth.  In  any  case,  and 
in  all  cases,  real  knowledge  must  start  with  and  be  based 
upon  the  concrete,  individual  notion.^ 

1  Pestalozzi.  —  Instruction  must  not  only  be  based  upon  sense  percep- 
tion, but  also  upon  inner  or  intellectual  perception. 

It  is  also  very  important  for  us  to  emphasize  for  instruction  that  power 
of  silent  receptivity ,  which  allows  the  matter  of  instruction  to  penetrate 
the  depths  of  the  soul,  to  grow  and  ripen,  even  without  the  illumination 
of  reflection. 

Herbart  (vol.  i.  p.  120,  edition  by  O.  Willman).  —  The  marrow  of  educa- 
tion is  itself  destroyed,  if  the  first  fresh  presentations  become  old  without 
being  perceived ;  if  lifeless  repetitions  are  tediously  extended,  where  in- 
terest should  eagerly  seize  ;  if  the  forms  of  speech,  in  which  wealth  of 
conviction  even  best  loves  to  express  itself,  are  bereft  of  their  spirit,  and 
laid  away  as  corpses  in  the  caverns  of  memory. 


18  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

THE  GENERAL  NOTION. 
§  3.  Language  reflects  thought  as  the  mirror  reflects  the 
image  of  him  who  stands  before  it.  For  this  reason,  a 
study  of  language  is  often  the  most  direct  road  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  various  elements  of  thought.  We  will, 
therefore,  approach  the  next  stage  of  our  topic  by  calling 
to  mind  some  of  the  implications  of  language.  We  say 
that  a  noun  is  the  name  of  an  object,  but  this  object  must 
primarily  be  an  object  of  thought,  for  names  do  not  inhere 
in  things ;  they  are  only  means  by  which  one  mind  is  able 
to  "convey"  its  own  ideas  to  another  mind.  But  actual 
things  of  sense  correspond  to  ideas  gained  through  a  normal 
use  of  the  senses,  hence,  secondarily  and  mediately  the 
naun  is  the  name  of  the  object  itself,  and  no  confusion 
need  arise  from  thinking  of  the  noun  as  a  symbol  of  an 
actual  physical  thing  in  space  or  of  an  idea  of  the  mind.^ 
A  noun  may  be  considered  in  two  ways  :  — 

(1)  As  to  the  quantity  or  number  of  that  to  which  it 
applies,  called  the  exte7it  of  the  noun  (or  notion,  which  the 
noun  represents) ;  and 

(2)  As  to  the  qualities  or  attributes  which  belong  to 
that  to  which  the  noun  applies,  called  the  content  of  the 
noun  (or  notion,  which  the  noun  represents). 

The  extent  may  evidently  include  oiie,  or  some,  or  all.  In 
the  sentence,  Socrates  identifies  virtue  with  wisdom,  only 
one  person  is  meant  by  the  word,  Socrates  ;  hence  this  word 
represents  an  individual  notion.  But  in  the  sentence,  Man 
is  mortal,  it  is  clear  that  the  extent  of  the  noun  is  not 
individual  but  general, — that  all  men  are  included  by  the 
word  man.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  words  virtue  and 
wisdom  in  the  preceding  sentence,  for  these  are  general 

1  Compare  Everett,  The  Science  of  Thought,  p.  67. 


THE  GENERAL  NOTION,  19 

terms.  They  do  not  refer  to  particular  virtues  or  wisdoms. 
With  regard  to  extent,  they  differ  from  man  and  similar 
words  in  not  being  numerically  considered.  General  names, 
like  ma/i,  virtue^  wisdom,  are  called  common  nouns.  They 
can  apply  to  individual  objects,  or  to  limited  numbers  or 
quantities,  only  through  limitation  by  adjectives.  Thus, 
this  man,  tall  oaks,  much  wisdom. 

Common  nouns,  therefore,  being  general  names,  always 
express  general  notions. 

When  unlimited  by  adjectives,  the  common  noun  (hence 
the  general  notion  which  it  represents)  always  embraces 
the  whole  extent  of  that  to  which  the  noun  refers. 

§  4.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  the  noun  (hence  the  notion) 
has  also  content,  which  will  vary  as  the  extent  is  expanded 
or  contracted. 

One  might  think  of  a  rose  as  the  synthesis  of  its  various 
attributes  of  form,  color,  odor,  etc.  In  any  individual  rose 
these  attributes  would  be  numerous  and  perfectly  definite. 
The  color,  for  instance,  would  be  white  or  red  ;  but  in  the 
general  notion  rose,  particular  attributes  can  no  longer  be 
assigned,  for  only  those  attributes  could  belong  to  rose  in 
general  which  are  common  to  all  roses.  Nouns  may  then 
be  limited  by  reference  to  their  content.  Adjectives  which 
modify  in  this  way  are  called  qualifying  adjectives,  be- 
cause they  apply  to  the  attributes  or  qualities  belonging  to 
that  which  the  noun  represents ;  for  instance.  Black  sheep 
are  rare.  Here  the  general  class  sheep  is  restricted  or 
limited  in  extent  by  the  qualifying  adjective  black.  In 
the  sentence.  The  woolly  sheep  is  a  timid  animal,  the  word 
woolly  does  not  limit  the  extent  of  the  notion,  for  this 
attribute  is  common  to  all  sheep,  unless,  perchance,  the 
professor  of  the  university  of  Lagado  was  successful,  who 
spent  many  years  in  trying  to  raise  sheep  without  wool. 


20  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  may  be  seen  that  when  the 
extent  of  a  notion  is  smallest  (one),  its  content  is  greatest ; 
and  that  when  its  extent  is  greatest  (all  of  its  class  or  kind), 
the  content  is  least ;  in  general,  the  greater  the  extent,  the 
smaller  the  content,  and  vice  versa.  Thns,  the  term  animal 
embraces  a  far  greater  nnmber  of  individuals  than  the  term 
quadruped,  but  at  the  same  time  there  are  fewer  character- 
istics which  are  common  to  all  animals  than  are  common  to 
all  quadrupeds.  The  term  cat  is  less  than  quadruped  in 
extent^  but  it  is  richer  in  content.  The  same  can  be  seen  in 
the  general  terms  tree,  forest-tree,  oak,  white-oak.  Here  the 
extent  constantly  narrows,  but  the  content,  i.e.,  the  number 
of  common  characteristics,  constantly  increases. 

But,  though  when  logically  considered,  extent  and  content 
of  notions  are  related  as  indicated,  it  does  not  follow  that 
knowledge  of  content  grows  meager  as  knowledge  of  extent 
enlarges.  Were  this  true,  we  should  have  to  say  that  the 
more  the  zoologist  extends  his  classes,  the  less  he  would 
know  about  them. 

All  effective  learning  is  occupied  quite  as  much  with 
enriching  content  as  with  widening  extent.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  knowledge  should  never  be  divorced  from 
the  individual  thing,  however  broad  its  generalization  may 
become. 

Not  only  is  the  idea  of  the  general  notion  familiar  in 
grammar,  but  it  manifests  itself  in  a  rudimentary  stage  in 
early  childhood.  How  a  child  forms  such  an  idea  may  be 
seen  from  an  illustration.  Suppose  he  has  observed  a 
number  of  dogs  of  various  breeds,  but  has  seen  no  one  of 
them  more  than  once.  If  there  were,  say,  ten  of  them  in 
all,  the  external  common  characteristics  of  all  have  been 
observable  ten  times,  whereas  the  individual  characteristics 
of  each  dog  have  appeared  but  once.     Thus,  the  fact  that 


THE  GENERAL  NOTION.  21 

all  dogs  have  ears  has  been  manifested  ten  times,  though 
the  characteristic  of  cropped  ears,  or  of  silky  ears,  may 
have  occurred  but  once.  So  of  the  muzzle,  the  tail,  the 
legs,  etc. 

Savages,  as  Herbert  Spencer  shows,  form  general  notions, 
but  naturally  of  a  much  more  elementary  character  than  is 
the  case  with  civilized  races.  Indeed,  the  history  of  the 
language  seems  to  show  that  vague  general  terms  preceded 
specific  individual  ones.  As  soon  as  the  child  can  say  caij 
dog,  horse,  intelligently,  he  has  passed  beyond  the  individual 
object ;  his  knowledge  has  attained  to  a  certain  degree  of 
universality.  As  we  shall  see  hereafter,  he  can  truly  know 
an  individual  object  only  when  he  can  subsume  it  under  a 
general  notion. 

§  5.  A  general  notion  is  unlike  the  individual,  also,  in 
that  it  cannot  be  imaged  or  pictured  to  the  mind.  Every 
image  in  the  mind  must  be  individual,  and  in  being  indi- 
vidual it  ceases  to  be  general.  I  can  imagine  or  picture 
any  individual  tree,  even  one  which  I  have  never  seen,  but 
it  remains  individual.  It  is  this  tree ;  viz.,  the  one  I  am 
picturing  to  myself.  It  has  definite  form,  color,  size ;  its 
leaves  are  of  a  certain  pattern,  its  bark  has  a  peculiar  forma- 
tion. The  general  notion,  or  conception,  tree,  however, 
cannot  possess  these  individual  peculiarities,  since  it  must 
include  all  trees.  My  general  notion  tree  is  rather  a  general 
rule  or  scheme  for  the  formation  of  any  individual  image 
of  a  tree.  If  one  thinks  of  such  notions  as  are  expressed 
by  the  abstract  noun,  —  such  as  redness,  heat,  goodness,  —  it 
is  plain  that  any  individual  notion  of  one  of  these  qualities 
would  imply  a  definite  degree^  but  the  general  notion  would 
include  all  degrees.  For  example,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  find  a  point  registered  on  a  thermometer,  which  alone 
indicates  heat.     The  same  is  true  to  a  greater  extent  with 


212  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

the  more  abstract  terms  fo7xe,  matter,  quality,  being.  These 
must  in  truth  always  be  thought ;  they  cannot  be  perceived 
individually.  (Compare  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  "  Illinois  School 
Journal,"  July,  1888.)  The  general  notion  is  therefore  a 
general  scheme,  or  rule,  for  the  formation  of  individual 
notions,  and  is  usually  expressed  in  a  definition.  It  is  a 
product  of  thought,  and  has  no  external,  objective  existence 
apart  from  individual  objects.  It  is  vain  to  seek  the  univer- 
sal horse,  except  so  far  as  it  is  embodied  in  every  horse. 
But  the  general  notion  has  a  truth  and  reality  in  these 
objects,  for  it  finds  a  concrete  embodiment  of  its  character- 
istics in  them. 

The  general  notion,  in  its  various  stages  of  extent  and 
content,  is  the  necessary  result  of  perception  a7id  reflection. 
It  is  that  characteristic  of  mind  that  separates  human  in- 
telligence from  the  intelligence  of  the  brute,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  fact  that  animals  do  not  use  language,  and 
hence  do  not  appear  to  have  any  symbols  for  generalization. 
A  dog,  for  instance,  has  the  individual  notions,  cow,  rabbit ; 
nor  does  he  ever  mistake  the  one  for  the  other,  though  these 
notions,  like  the  first  conceptions  of  the  child,  are  vague 
and  indistinct.  But  his  intelligence  appears  to  stop  at  this 
stage.  Not  so  with  man.  Man's  intelligence  sees  the 
general  in  the  particular ;  it  discerns  the  common  character- 
istics necessary  to  the  notion  of  each  individual,  and  by 
reflection  forms  a  general  conception.  This  fact,  as  we 
shall  see,  has  great  significance  in  education,  and  must 
never  be  forgotten. 

§  6.  Just  as  we  found  it  expedient  to  enlarge  our  idea 
of  the  individual  notion  beyond  the  ordinary  notions  gained 
through  the  senses,  so,  likewise,  shall  we  find  it  advanta- 
geous to  extend  our  idea  of  general  notions  beyond  those 
gained  from  the  comparison  of  similar  objects  of  sense. 


TEE  GENERAL  NOTION.  23 

Thus,  in  the  multiplication  of  a  fraction  by  an  integer,  we 
may  pass  by  reflection  or  insight  from  the  concrete  individ- 
ual notion  of  the  numerical  relations  of  objects  to  the 
general  truth  that  a  fraction  is  multiplied  by  multiplying 
its  numerator,  because  the  mind  perceives  the  universality 
of  a  mathematical  process  whenever  it  clearly  understands 
the  conditions.  From  the  individual  example  of  the  amount 
of  displacement  by  a  floating  body,  we  may  easily  pass  to 
the  general  notion  that  any  floating  body  displaces  its  own 
weight  of  the  liquid  in  which  it  floats.  From  the  individual 
case  of  the  merit  of  telling  the  truth,  in  the  case  of  George 
Washington,  we  may  pass  by  reflection  to  the  general  fact 
that  truthfulness  is  right,  and  that  lying  is  wrong.  Noti- 
cing the  characteristics  of  several  individual  circles,  we  soon 
find  those  which  are  common ;  viz.,  plane  surface,  curved 
boundary,  and  equidistance  of  all  points  on  the  circumfer- 
ence from  a  point  within  the  circle.  From  these  we  con- 
struct our  general  notion  of  the  circle,  which  in  this  case 
takes  the  form  of  a  definition. 

The  general  notion,  therefore)  thus  extended  and  un- 
derstood, embraces  not  only  notions  of  material  objects, 
their  qualities  and  relations,  but  definitions,  as  in  mathe- 
matics and  natural  science ;  laws,  as  the  laws  of  gravitation, 
cohesion,  repulsion,  etc. ;  principles,  as  of  economic  or  politi- 
cal life,  or  of  warfare,  etc. ;  moral  maxims,  as,  e.g.,  the  cate- 
gorical imperative,  —  So  act  that  through  your  own  will  the 
rules  of  your  conduct  might  become  universal  laws. 


CHAPTER   11. 

APPERCEPTION,  OR  THE  ASSIMILATION  OF  KNOWLEDGE.    A  NEW 
STANDPOINT  IN  EDUCATIONAL  PSYCHOLOGY. 

GENERAL  VIEW. 

§  7.  Roughly  speaking,  apperception  is  to  the  mind  what 
the  process  of  digestion  and  assimilation  of  food  is  to  the 
body.  Suitable  food  contains  the  elements  needed  for  the 
nourishment  of  all  parts  of  the  body,  such  as  bone,  mus- 
cle, fat,  nerves,  teeth,  nails,  hair,  etc.,  while  the  assimila- 
tive process  brings  each  food  element  into  right  relations 
with  the  part  of  the  physical  organism  for  which  it  is 
appropriate.  Indigestible  matter  is  either  indifferent  or 
harmful  to  the  system.  Somewhat  analogous  to  this  physi- 
cal process  is  the  mental  one  we  call  apperception.  The 
senses  present  to  us  what  may  be  termed  the  raw  material 
of  knowledge.  It  is  upon  this  material  that  the  mind 
exerts  its  assimilative  function.  It  naturally  relates  each 
new  element  of  knowledge,  as  it  is  presented,  to  its  appro- 
priate place  in  the  knowledge  organism^  thereby  giving 
significance  to  the  new  experience.  But  there  is  this  wide 
difference  between  the  physical  and  the  mental  assimila- 
tion, —  digestion  is  mechanical  and  unconscious,  whereas 
apperception  is  conscious  and  necessarily  incomplete.  A 
good  digestive  system  will  utilize  the  nutriment  in  almost 
any  kind  of  food,  but  the  mind  of  the  child  has  only  the 
child's  apprehension  for  the  experience  furnished  by  its 
environment.  In  a  museum,  for  instance,  an  image  which 
may  mean  to  the  child  merely  an  ugly  doll,  may  mean  to 

24 


APPERCEPTION.  25 

the  adult  a  system  of  idolatry,  a  stage  of  civilization  for 
a  people.  The  child  relates  the  new  object  to  the  kindred 
facts  of  his  own  experience :  he  can  do  no  more ;  whereas 
the  man,  with  vastly  wider  knowledge  and  mental  power, 
extends  the  relations  to  a  whole  system  of  facts.  Apper- 
ception is,  then,  in  general,  the  process  of  giving  signifi- 
cance to  facts  by  relating  them  to  our  more  firmly  estab- 
lished knowledge.  To  illustrate  further,  let  us  construct  a 
figure  of  three  lines,  one  straight  and  perpendicular,  one 
broken  and  oblique,  and  one  curved,  thus :  — 

Sight  gives  us  the  figure  as  it  stands,  but  the  ap- 
prehension that  we  get  at  first  view  is  unsatisfac- 
tory. We  have  perhaps  had  experience  enough  r 
with  lines  to  enable  us  to  relate  each  one  to  its 
appropriate  class,  but  we  see  no  idea,  no  purpose  in  the 
whole.  Remembering,  now,  however,  that  a  painter  once 
boasted  that  he  could,  by  means  of  three  lines,  represent 
a  soldier  and  his  dog  entering  an  inn,  we  can  at  once  as- 
sociate the  hitherto  meaningless  marks  with  a  system  of 
ideas,  and  when  this  is  done,  the  process  of  apperception 
may  be  said  to  be  complete. 

There  are  a  number  of  psychological  methods  of  viewing 
the  various  problems  arising  in  education.  Some  of  these 
have  in  the  past  served  a  useful  purpose  in  enabling  men 
to  come  to  rational  conclusions  on  educational  questions ; 
some  are  still  comparatively  new.  Among  the  latter  the 
most  prominent  are  two  branches  of  empirical  psychology  — 
that  known  as  physiological  psychology,  and  that  in  which 
the  doctrine  of  apperception  is  an  important  factor.  Phys- 
iolQgical  psychology  studies  mental  acts  by  observing  and 
measuring  their  mechanical  occasion  and  results,  accord- 
ing to  the  methods  of  physical  science.  It  has  undoubted 
value  for  all  that  class  of  problems  in  which  bodily  health 


26  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD, 

and  well-being  are  important  factors.  In  what  we  may 
term  apperceptional  psychology,  we  attack  the  educational 
problems  pertaining  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and 
the  formation  of  character  in  another  way.  We  recognize 
the  fact  that  each  advance  in  knowledge  is  very  largely 
determined  in  rate,  kind,  and  amount  by  the  results  that 
our  past  experiences  have  left  upon  our  minds.  In  other 
words,  the  present  make-up  of  our  minds  in  knowledge, 
habits  of  thought,  interests,  purposes,  etc.,  determines  to 
very  large  extent  what  interpretation  we  shall  put  upon 
a  given  element  of  knowledge  when  presented  to  us  by  a 
teacher,  or  by  the  ordinary  experience  of  life.  If,  then, 
the  past  experience  of  the  child  in  and  out  of  school  is  so 
potent  in  determining  his  progress,  it  seems  evident  that  his 
teacher  should  go  to  work  consciously  to  do  two  things :  first, 
in  his  teaching,  to  utilize  in  the  best  possible  way  the  past 
experience  of  the  child ;  and,  second,  to  pave  the  way  for 
future  progress  by  the  best  possible  presentation  of  the  studies 
that  are  to  make  up  the  chief  part  of  the  pupil's  knowledge. 
The  value  to  the  teacher  of  this  way  of  approaching  the 
educational  problems  of  instruction  may,  perhaps,  be  more 
clearly  seen  by  contrasting  it  with  other  methods  of  study- 
ing psychology.  We  have,  for  instance,  a  method  called 
rational  psychology.  In  this  method  of  study  it  makes  no 
difference  to  us  what  the  experience  of  the  individual  may 
have  been.  The  mind  of  a  Chinaman  or  an  Esquimau 
will  do  just  as  well  as  that  of  a  college  professor  or  that  of 
a  farmer.  Our  constant  inquiry  is.  What  constitutes  a 
mind  ?  Evidently  something,  else  a  camera  could  have 
experiences  as  well  as  a  man.  In  rational  psychology  we 
look  for  what  must  be  found  in  every  mind  —  its  laws  of 
action,  its  constituting  principles.  All  that  the  teacher 
can   do  is  to  recognize   these   facts,  and  govern  himself 


APPERCEPTION.  27 

accordingly.  He  cannot  change  one  of  them.  From  the 
apperceptive  point  of  view,  however,  we  are  chiefly  con- 
cerned, not  with  the  unchangeable  laws  of  mental  action, 
but  with  the  constantly  changing  content  of  mind,  over 
which  the  teacher  has  some  control,  since  he  can  utilize 
and  create  it. 

There  is  another  way  of  looking  at  mental  life,  in  which 
the  various  modes  of  activity  are  classified  under  the  name 
of  faculties.  We  have  accordingly  the  faculties  of  mem- 
ory, perception,  imagination,  reason,  will,  and  the  like, 
each  being  regarded  as  an  organ  of  the  mind,  and  needing 
a  special  training.  Thus,  to  train  the  memory  is  to  exer- 
cise it  by  requiring  the  child  to  commit  large  amounts  of 
useful  knowledge.  But  since  knowledge  becomes  manage- 
able by  condensation  into  rules,  principles,  and  abstract 
statements,  the  danger  is  that  the  pupils  will  be  called 
upon  to  memorize  large  amounts  of  unassimilated  matter, 
thus  bringing  about  a  sort  of  paralysis  of  the  thinking 
power,  as  we  see  in  Chinese  education.  Similar  danger 
attends  all  attempts  to  train  other  faculties  in  the  same 
manner.  Reason  is  not  necessarily  developed  by  the  repe- 
tition of  formulas,  nor  is  will  made  stronger  by  the  repetition 
of  aphorisms.  The  difficulty  with  this  method  of  looking 
at  the  mind  is  that  everything  is  external.  The  teacher 
sets  himself  over  against  a  being  of  supposed  complicated 
organism,  and  attempts  in  a  purely  external  manner  to 
train  the  organs  by  devising  a  special  exercise  for  each. 
When  we  recognize  the  process  of  apperception,  however, 
then  the  external  standpoint  gives  place  to  an  internal  one. 
the  teacher  regulating  the  amount  and  method  of  his  in- 
struction by  the  psychical  needs  of  the  child,  which  are 
determined  largely  by  his  knowledge  and  his  interests. 

Just  as   Copernicus  brought  simplicity  and  order  into 


28  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

astronomy  by  discovering  the  true  center  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem, so  we  shall  bring  simplicity  and  order  into  our  instruc- 
tion when  we  recognize  the  true  center  of  the  educational 
system  —  the  apperceptive  power  of  the  child. 

§  8.  We  may  still  further  understand  the  significance  of 
the  apperceptive  process  by  seeing  how  it  is  implied,  even 
in  our  most  familiar  mental  acts. 

(1)  The  value  of  sense-perception  as  a  starting-point  in 
education  has  been  justly  extolled,  yet  it  needs  a  deeper 
grounding  than  the  current  conception  of  its  function.  A 
superficial  view  regards  sense-training  mostly  in  its  mechan- 
ical aspects.  Not  a  few  people  regard  savages  as  having 
better  eyesight  and  hearing  than  civilized  men.  Savages 
do,  indeed,  notice  many  things  that  educated  men  do  not, 
but  this  is  due  to  mind-training  rather  than  to  any  supe- 
riority of  the  sense  organs. 

It  is  not  unnatural  that  we  should  think  of  the  Ameri- 
can Indian,  trailing  his  foe  through  the  trackless  forest  by 
obscure  signs,  as  having  better  eyesight  than  his  white 
companion,  who  cannot  do  such  things.  Yet,  if  the 
Indian  should  look  through  a  microscope,  or  listen  to 
a  modern  orchestra,  he  would  be  as  blind  and  deaf  to 
niceties  as  the  dweller  of  the  city  is  in  the  forest.  The 
difference  between  the  two  men  is  mental,  rather  than 
physical.  Their  minds  have  been  trained  to  attend  to 
quite  different  elements  of  the  retinal  pictures ;  their  ap- 
perception is  the  real  point  of  difference.  A  turned  leaf,  a 
broken  twig,  which  a  white  man  might  not  look  for  or 
notice,  becomes  to  the  Indian  a  sign  of  a  hidden  or  fleeing 
enemy.  The  retina  of  the  white  man's  eye  would  record 
these  things,  but  they  would  have  no  significance  to  him ; 
but  to  the  Indian  they  would  mean  much,  for  his  training 
has  been  such  as  to  make  his  existence,  or  at  least  the 


APPERCEPTION.  29 

satisfaction  of  his  passions,  depend  upon  noticing  and 
reading  them  aright.  Another  evidence  that  the  retinal 
picture  is  substantially  the  same  in  all  healthy  eyes,  is 
the  fact  that  for  defective  vision  we  always  go  to  the 
oculist,  never  to  the  teacher.  The  image  on  the  retina 
depends,  indeed,  not  on  the  laws  of  pedagogics,  but  on 
those  of  physics. 

Whenever  the  mind  stands  face  to  face  with  a  new  ex- 
perience whose  significance  is  not  grasped,  it  is  in  the  state 
we  call  wonder.  This  is  truly,  as  Plato  says,  the  begin- 
ning of  knowledge,  the  most  primary  incentive  to  learn ; 
but  if  "wonder  does  not  give  place  to  apprehension,  if 
apperception  does  not  complete  its  work,  the  stimulus  of 
wonder  will  soon  fade  into  the  indifference  of  ignorance. 
Take  any  child  for  the  first  time  through  a  museum  in 
silence,  and  most  things  will  be  as  surely  locked  from  him 
as  if  he  stood  outside  of  bolted  doors.  Who,  indeed,  but 
an  archaeologist  c;^n  read  a  tithe  of  what  is  implied  in  a 
cabinet  of  Assyrian  relics  ?  Truly  to  appreciate  the  signifi- 
cance even  of  an  Assyrian  brick  and  its  hieroglyphics  is 
to  understand  an  ancient  civilization,  so  different  from  our 
own  that  only  the  profoundest  study  of  years  enables  us 
even  dimly  to  apprehend  it.  Reversing  the  illustration,  sup- 
pose, for  instance,  that  an  electric  current  were  now  able  to 
start  the  full  tide  of  life  in  the  mummy  of  Rameses  II., 
and  that  he  could  be  set  down  in  the  midst  of  an  American 
city.  What  a  bewildering  maze  of  sights  and  sounds 
would  crowd  upon  his  senses  !  What  to  him  would  be  the 
myriad  applications  of  steam  and  electricity,  the  occupa- 
tions, sentiments,  and  pursuits  of  men  ?  Yet  if  he  could 
be  born  again,  and  live  for  a  few  years  under  American 
conditions,  everything  would  seem  as  natural  as  if  it  had 
never  been  otherwise. 


30  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  it  depends  upon  the 
teacher  whether  the  principle  of  sense-perception,  so  firmly 
urged  by  Comenius,  Rousseau,  and  Pestalozzi,  shall  be  a 
fruitful  or  a  barren  one.  It  is  quite  possible  that  having 
eyes  we  see  not,  and  having  ears  we  hear  not.  Object 
lessons  may  degenerate  into  mere  staring,  or  they  may  be 
made  the  greatest  incentives  to  understanding  and  knowl- 
edge. The  blossom  of  wonder  must  become  the  fruit  of 
understanding,  perception  must  culminate  in  apperception, 
or  the  senses  will  fail  to  do  their  part  in  the  work  of 
education. 

(2)  Just  as  the  net  result  of  sense-perception  in  the 
child  is  limited  by  the  interpreting  power  of  his  present 
acquisitions,  so  his  imagination,  usually  thought  to  be  the 
freest,  most  spontaneous  expression  of  his  being,  is  like- 
wise conditioned  by  the  range  of  his  knowledge.  In  our 
instruction  we  call  upon  the  imagination  chiefly  to  do  three 
classes  of  things :  (1)  to  enlarge  and  (2)  lio  diminish  pres- 
ent ideas  or  systems  of  ideas  without  greatly  changing  the 
relative  proportion  of  parts,  and  (3)  to  construct  new 
creations  from  old  elements  by  changing  relations,  and 
magnifying  or  diminishing  parts.  When  Gulliver  dwelt 
among  the  Brobdignags  everything  was  upon  an  enlarged 
scale.  A  man  was  as  tall  as  a  church  steeple,  a  rat  as 
large  as  a  bear,  and  everything  else  in  proportion.  When 
he  went  among  the  Lilliputians  he  found  everything  on  a 
greatly  diminished  scale.  A  barrel  of  water  was  no  more 
than  a  thimble-full,  while  Gulliver  could  step  from  one 
street  to  another  over  the  tops  of  the  houses.  These  two 
narratives  are  extended  illustrations  of  magnified  or  dimin- 
ished imaginative  reproductions.  The  constructive  imagi- 
nation has  a  vast  range,  from  grotesque  forms,  like  satyrs, 
sphinxes,  and  dragons,  to  the   noblest  productions  of   in- 


APPERCEPTION.  31 

vention  and  art.  But  everywhere  and  always  the  mind 
can  use  no  elements  in  these  constructions  not  already  at 
hand  as  a  result  of  former  experience.  The  teacher,  care- 
less of  the  principle  of  apperception,  unhesitatingly  makes 
drafts  that  the  childish  imagination  cannot  honor.  With- 
out ever  giving  him  the  elements  of  geographical  knowl- 
edge through  sense-perception,  as,  for  instance,  ideas  of  a 
lake,  a  river,  a  cape,  a  promontory  or  bay,  a  mountain,  hill, 
valley  or  desert,  swamp  or  plateau,  the  teacher  asks  the 
pupil  to  follow  him  or  the  book  in  building  up  in  his 
imagination  ideas  of  the  most  complicated  geographical 
structures.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  pupil's  efforts  to 
do  so  are  foredoomed  to  grotesqua  inadequacy.  Similarly 
in  history,  with  his  stock  of  interpreting  ideas  drawn  from 
the  sorriest  country  or  village  life,  the  pupil  is  often  ex- 
pected to  reconstruct  through  his  imagination  the  most 
imposing  scenes  of  the  world's  history.  Yet  in  teaching 
geography  and  history,  if  the  teacher  will  consciously  go 
to  work  to  enrich  and  arrange  the  interpreting  ideas  of 
the  children,  these  subjects  will  enrich  and  delight  the 
mind  through  an  exercise  of  the  imagination  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  apperception. 

(3)  Not  only  is  an  observance  of  the  rules  of  appercep- 
tion of  prime  importance  in  sense-perception  and  imagina- 
tion, but  such  observance  is  indispensable  in  securing  and 
holding  the  pupil's  interest  in  that  which  must  constitute 
the  matter  of  his  education.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  us 
to  strive  to  create  interest  in  study  by  appealing  to  emu- 
lation, to  ambition,  to  love  of  praise,  approval  of  others, 
duty,  etc.,  or  by  indulging  in  spectacular  display  in 
methods.  These  and  similar  devices  may  enable  us  to 
develop  a  momentary  interest,  in  duration  much  like  the 
anger  of  Brutus,  who  says,  — 


32  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD, 

*'  O  Cassius,  you  are  yoked  with  a  lamb, 
That  carries  anger  as  the  flint  bears  fire; 
Who,  much  enforced,  shows  a  hasty  spark, 
And  straight  is  cold  again." 

However  valuable  these  transient  flashes  of  interest  may 
be  in  arousing  the  mind  to  activity,  certainly  the  ideal  school 
interest  is  not  reached  until  the  pupil  becomes  progressively 
interested  in  the  subject-matter  of  his  education. 

These  studies  are  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  child, 
since  they  reveal  to  him  what  the  race  has  thought  and 
done  and  felt,  both  in  social  and  material  realms.  In  them 
he  may  see  his  highest  destiny ;  through  them  he  may 
realize  it.  Now,  by  following  the  guide  of  apperception 
we  can  make  the  child  progressively  conscious  of  the  value 
of  these  studies  to  the  development  of  his  own  life,  and 
thus  awaken  a  permanent  and  growing  interest  in  school 
work.  This  direct  vital  interest  in  the  subject-matter  of 
education  is  so  important,  because  the  interests  that  touch 
our  souls  are  the  seeds  from  which  the  motives  of  our 
actions  spring.  If  my  interests  are  in  what  is  low  or  use- 
less or  selfish,  my  character  is  likely  to  receive  its  stamp 
from  a  distorted  die ;  but  if  natural  inclinations,  environ- 
ment, and,  most  of  all,  education,  can  generate  in  me  a 
permanent  interest  in  what  is  useful  and  good,  my  life  is 
likely  to  be  one  of  sweetness  and  light,  rather  than  one  of 
bitterness  and  d  arkness. 

The  first  interests  of  the  child  arise  from  wonder,  when 
brought  face  to  face  with  unknown  facts  of  the  material 
world  ;  hence  they  are  concrete  and  objective.  What  is 
often  seen,  or  is  devoid  of  significance,  or  is  exhausted  in 
meaning,  soon  ceases  to  attract.  Children  soon  weary  of 
perfected  toys,  or  those  incapable  of  new  combinations,  be- 
cause the  apperceptive  laws  of  mental  life  show  that  only 


APPERCEPTION,  83 

those  objects  interest  which  reveal  themselves  perpetually 
in  new  relations  of  deepening  significance.  We  come 
again  to  the  fact  that  sense-training  must  merge  at  once 
into  mind-training ;  that  unless  object  lessons  are  viewed 
merely  as  starting-points  for  an  internal,  spiritual  interest, 
they  become  a  vain  thing,  useless  alike  for  instruction  and 
amusement. 

It  is  the  despair  of  mothers  that  the  child  at  one  stage 
of  his  existence  seems  little  besides  an  animated  interroga- 
tion point.  Not  a  new  fact  comes  under  his  observation 
without  the  question,  Why  ?  This  is  his  demand  for  the 
reason  of  things.  It  is  a  fact  full  of  significance  to  the 
teacher,  for  it  shows  that  the  thought  or  speculative  interest 
is  one  of  the  most  fundamental  impulses  of  the  mind.  The 
teacher  who  does  not  consciously  or  unconsciously  observe 
the  laws  of  apperception,  soon  quenches  this  primeval 
flame,  and  introduces  the  mind  to  that  weary  round  of  unin- 
teresting, formal  teaching  that  by  courtesy  so  often  goes  by 
the  name  of  education.  Shall  we  not  keep  alive  this  divine 
spark  of  intelligence,  this  natural  impulse  to  understand, 
this  native  potentiality  of  the  mind  which  needs  but  the 
skill  of  the  true  teacher  to  make  it  develop  into  actuality  ? 

A  proper  mastery  of  educational  psychology  enables  the 
teacher  to  discover  and  develop  every  natural  interest  of 
the  mind;  the  aesthetic  and  ethical,  as  well  as  the  intellect- 
ual and  objective.  It  teaches  him  how  to  make  all  knowl- 
edge interesting,  by  showing  him  how  to  make  it  significant 
in  the  eyes  of  the  child. 

SPECIFIC    INVESTIGATION. 

What  is  Apperception  ? 
§  9.   The  term  Apperception  has  been  a  familiar  one  in 
philosophy  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years.     In  recent 


34  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

times  it  has  been  adopted  as  a  part  of  the  language  of 
psychology.  The  following  exposition  is  intended  to  pre- 
sent in  brief  form  the  substantial  results  of  the  investiga- 
tions of  prominent  psychologists  in  this  field.^ 

(1)  The  mind  must  possess  an.  original,  inherent  jjower 
of  reacting  against  the  physical-  stimulus  that  comes  to  it 
through  the  medium  of  the  senses,  else  we  should  never 
have  any  experience  at  all. 

The  result  of  this  reaction  is,  ultimately,  the  production 
of  ideas.  Let  us  call  this  original  reacting  power  the  will ; 
for  it  is  the  function  of  the  will  to  manifest  its  activity  in 
the  realm  of  ideas,  the  outwardly  directed  physical  effort 
being  an  accompanying  index.  Hence  we  may  say  that,  in 
order  that  knowledge  shall  get  a  start,  the  self,  in  conform- 
ity to  the  will,  becomes  a  necessary  element  in  every  sen- 
sation, so  that  if  asked.  What  is  a  sensation  apart  from  all 
apperception  ?  we  should  be  compelled  to  answer,  Nothing 
at  all  for  consciousness,  since  without  apperception  we 
should  never  have  a  sensation.  This  first  volitional 
response  of  the  mind  to  outward  physical  stimuli  coming 
through  the  senses,  and  resulting  in  sensations  and  ideas, 
is  the  priTnary  or  initial  form  of  apperception.  It  is  such 
because  it  involves  no  previous  knowledge.  That  phase 
of  apperception  most  iinportant  in  education,  however,  in- 
volves knowledge,  and  may,  therefore,  be  termed  the  cog- 
nitive apperception. 

(2)  To  have  sensations  and  ideas,  however,  is  to  have 

1  For  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  use  of  the  word  see  the  concluding 
chapter  of  Lange's  "Apperception,"  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston.  The 
present  exposition  is  in  the  spirit  of  Wundt's  contributions  to  the  sub- 
ject, he  having  fairly  incorporated  all  the  essential  points  of  other  sys- 
tems of  thought,  of  which  that  of  Herbart  is  the  most  noteworthy. 
But  though  conforming  essentially  to  "Wundt's  theory,  the  present  dis- 
cussion has  some  important  deviations  from  that  author. 


APPERCEPTION.  35 

what  we  call  consciousness.  This  raay  be  viewed  in  two 
ways.  Comparing  it  figuratively  with  the  image  formed 
upon  the  retina  of  the  eye  in  vision,  we  may  distinguish, 
first,  the  whole  field  of  illumination,  and,  second,  the  cen- 
tral focus  of  light,  from  which  the  illumination  rapidly 
diminishes  to  the  periphery  of  the  image.  If  we  call  all 
activity  within  the  field  of  consciousness  perceptio7i,  then 
the  activity  within  the  focus  of  consciousness,  or  the  point 
of  greatest  clearness,  may  be  distinguished  by  the  name 
apperception. 

(3)  The  elements  of  mental  life,  as  they  are  presented 
by  the  senses,  have  a  varying  value  in  consciousness,  those 
of  most  subjective  worth  coming  into  the  focus,  and 
others  remaining  in  outlying  portions  of  the  field.  The 
primal  activity  of  the  mind  in  responding  to  these  stimuli 
has  been  called  the  will,  so  that  the  ideas  that  get  into  the 
focus  of  consciousness  must  have  the  greatest  momentary 
worth  to  the  will.  But  that  which  has  value  in  relation  to 
the  will  is  a  motive,  so  that  we  may  speak  of  the  soliciting 
power  that  an  idea  has  for  the  will  as  its  motive  value. 
This  changes  from  moment  to  moment  and  from  stage  to 
stage  in  the  development  of  the  mind.  What  is  a  strong 
motive  to  us  at  one  time  or  in  one  condition  ceases  to  be 
such  at  another  time,  or  when  the  state  of  the  mind  has 
changed. 

(4)  It  is  because  the  spontaneous  activity  of  the  mind 
in  its  response  to  sense  stimuli  is  conceived  as  will,  that  it 
is  proper  to  regard  the  worth  that  each  idea  has  for  the 
mind  as  a  Tnotive  value.  This  value  is  to  be  expressed  in 
terms  of  feeling,  whether  having  its  origin  in  the  body  or 
in  the  contemplation  of  intellectual  or  moral  truths.  To 
have  the  later  motive  value  arising  from  perceived  knowl- 
edge relations,  an  idea  must  enter  the  field  of  conscious- 


36  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

iiess,  when  it  may  be  quickly  elevated  into  the  focus, 
provided  it  possesses  enough  motive  value.  This  will  de- 
pend, not  so  much  upon  its  actual  value  considered  in 
itself,  as  upon  the  subjective  worth  it  has  for  a  mind  that 
is  constantly  changing  its  tone  in  obedience  to  altering  con- 
tent of  consciousness.  We  may  say,  in  general,  that  the 
motive  value  of  an  idea  at  any  given  time  will  depend 
upon  the  worth  the  idea  appears  to  have  for  the  well-being 
of  the  self.  It  may  range  from  the  satisfaction  of  the 
simplest  physical  want  arising  from  the  bodily  organism, 
up  to  the  realization  of  the  impulses  of  the  self  in  the 
loftiest  realms  of  intellectual  and  moral  life. 

(5)  Though  the  mind  through  its  will  activity  creates 
ideas,  it  does  so  in  obedience  to  stimuli  coming  from 
sources  independent  of  itself.  On  this  account  the  original 
content  of  mental  life  depends  in  large  degree  upon  causes 
over  which  the  mind  has  no  control,  but  it  may  be  said 
that  all  ideas  have  been  more  or  less  perfectly  apperceived 
before  they  are  recognized  as  old  and  familiar.  Eecurring 
ideas  that  have  been  apperceived  are  recognized  as  such, 
and  no  longer  command  the  attention  necessary  to  bring 
them  to  the  focus  of  consciousness,  unless  they  possess  a 
motive  value  sufficient  to  call  for  a  more  complete  apper- 
ception. They,  it  may  be  said,  usually  constitute  the 
main  body  of  ideas  in  the  field  of  consciousness  —  they  are 
perceptions  which  may,  however,  be  called  into  the  focus 
at  any  moment. 

(6)  New  ideas  entering  consciousness,  whether  occa- 
sioned by  physical  or  psychical  processes,  usually  possess  a 
sufficient  motive  value  to  raise  them  into  the  apperceiving 
center.  They  can  obtain  significance,  however,  only  when 
they  are  consciously  related  to  other  ideas.  In  order  to 
establish    these    relations,   the   mind   must    hold   in    the 


A  PPER  CEP  TION.  37 

focus  of  its  attention,  not  only  the  newly  entering  idea, 
but  also  those  to  which  it  is  to  be  related.  The  impossi- 
bility of  holding  one  of  two  related  ideas  in  the  focus  of  con- 
sciousness, and  keeping  the  other  in  the  background  at  the 
moment  of  establishing  the  relation,  seems  to  substantiate 
this  view.  We  may  say,  therefore,  that  in  an  ordinary  act 
of  apperception  the  mind  holds  under  the  focus  of  its 
attention,  not  only  the  new  notion,  but  also  the  other  idea 
to  which  it  must  be  related  in  order  to  have  significance. 

§  10.  In  order  that  the  function  of  the  process  of  apper- 
ception may  be  more  fundamentally  understood,  we  shall 
need  to  see  some  of  the  important  relations  it  bears  to  the 
association  of  ideas. 

(1)  The  nature  of  consciousness  is  such  that  the  mind 
tends  to  unite  into  a  whole,  either  homogeneous  or  made 
up  of  related  parts,  all  that  enters  it  at  any  given  time. 
Lindner  formulates  the  following  laws  for  this  union  or 
fusion  (association)  of  ideas. 

a.  Simultaneous  ideas  tend  to  fuse  ;  i.e.,  flow  together 
into  a  single  act  of  cognition.  (They  form  a  complete 
fusion  if  they  are  different  pictures  of  the  same  thing,  as, 
for  example,  of  a  church,  or  house,  or  college.) 

b.  Simultaneous  ideas  of  different  natures  fuse  without 
arrest  into  a  total  idea  or  complication.  (Cold  and  white 
fuse  or  unite  into  the  idea  snow,  since  the  two  ideas  are  of 
different  natures.) 

G.  Simultaneous  ideas  of  opposed  nature  first  arrest 
one  another  (resist  union),  and  then  fuse  with  degrees  of 
intensity  remaining  from  the  arrest.  (In  the  idea  home 
are  many  component  ideas  that  will  not  fuse  completely,  as 
house,  parents,  brother,  sisters,  sun^oundings,  etc.,  yet  the 
whole  forms  one  picture  more  or  less  definitely  seen.) 

Now,  this  primary  tendency  of  the  mind  to  unite  or  fuse 


38  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

all  its  simultaneous  impressions  is  the  most  elementary 
meaning  of  the  association  of  ideas.  Even  here,  however, 
the  process  of  apperception  goes  on,  though,  in  distinction 
from  those  phases  in  which  the  will  is  more  energetic,  we 
call  it  passive  apperception.  The  correlative  of  passive  is 
active  apperception. 

(2)  In  what  has  been  called  passive  apperception  the 
motive  value  of  the  leading  idea  is  single  and  unmistakable 
and  strong  enough  in  its  solicitation  of  the  will  to  bring  the 
idea  within  the  focus  of  consciousness,  requiring  no  bal- 
ancing of  motives,  or  reflection  upon  Avhich  idea  shall  be 
chosen.  In  active  apperception,  however,  the  line  of  action 
for  the  will  in  the  choice  of  the  ideas  that  shall  be  most 
prominent  in  the  focus  is  not  fixed  by  the  unmistakable 
motive  worth  of  one  idea  above  another,  but  there  is  a  com- 
plexity of  motive  worth  in  different  ideas  that  compels  the 
mind  to  pause,  to  consider,  and  finally  to  select  the  idea  and 
its  related  group  that  shall  occupy  the  focus  of  conscious- 
ness. 

We  may  distinguish  also  simultaneous  and  successive 
association  of  ideas.  In  simultaneous  association  the  ideas 
fuse  into  a  total,  or  single  complication,  none  of  them  retain- 
ing their  original  individuality.  (In  the  idea  salt  are  fused 
the  whitish  color,  the  hexahedral  form,  the  peculiar  taste, 
the  rough,  hygroscopic  feeling,  the  peculiar  crackling  when 
pressed  together,  etc.)  In  successive  association  each  idea, 
though  associated  with  others,  preserves  in  a  measure  its 
individuality,  so  that  we  have  a  series  of  ideas  linked  to- 
gether as  a  result. 

(3)  It  may  be  said  in  general  that  our  ideas  are  synthe- 
sized from  simpler  elements,  some  of  which  are  bound  to  be 
more  powerful,  or  possess  more  motive  worth  to  the  will, 
than  others.     Since  the  mind  cannot  attend  to  all  these  ele- 


APPERCEPTION.  39 

merits  at  once,  in  passive  apperception  the  ideas  that  shall 
attract  the  most  attention,  or,  in  other  words,  that  shall  be 
called  into  the  focus,  are  those  that  bring  with  them  the 
strongest  attraction  for  the  will.  This  attraction,  or  mo- 
tive worth,  will  depend  partly  upon  the  outside  relations  of 
the  things  that  occasioned  the  appearance  of  the  ideas  in 
consciousness,  and  partly  on  the  subjective  state  of  the 
mind.  Not  only  does  the  mind  arrange  and  relate  the  ele- 
ments given  to  it  at  one  time  by  the  senses,  but  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  any  cognitive  apperception  is  complete 
without  the  reproduction  of  related  ideas  th^t  were  not  in 
consciousness  at  the  time  of  the  reception  of  the  new.  How 
the  new  ideas  are  related  to  the  old  will  be  better  under- 
stood when  we  examine  the  process  of  apperception  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  judgment. 

(4)  As  the  term  successive  association  implies,  the  mind 
may  make  associations  in  which  the  ideas,  though  associ- 
ated, maintain  their  individuality  —  they  do  not  become 
so  completely  fused  as  to  lose  their  identity  as  separate 
ideas.  In  this  way  the  series,  or  chain  of  ideas,  arises,  in 
which  the  members  must  be  united  in  some  sort  of  relations 
even  if  merely  fanciful  and  subjective  ones.  These  rela- 
tions are  of  necessity  most  clear  and  distinct  between  the 
ideas  that  successively  occupy  the  focus  of  consciousness. 
Now,  since  these  ideas  are  related,  it  would  seem  that  any 
given  member  of  the  series  has  its  motive  worth  to  the  will 
partly  determined  by  its  predecessors,  and  that  it  will  have 
an  influence  in  determining  which  idea  shall  follow  it  into 
the  focus.  This  makes  the  association  of  ideas  in  the 
series  a  rational  process.  Giving  ourselves  up  passively  to 
the  train  of  ideas,  we  see  how  we  may  arrive  at  the  most 
unexpected  results,  yet  be  able  to  perceive  how  the  motive 
value  of  one  idea  indicated  what  the  next  member  of  the 
series  should  be. 


40  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

(5)  The  motive  worth  of  an  idea  for  the  will  is  the  feel- 
ing united  with  it,  so  that  we  may  consider  feeling  the 
driving  force  for  the  rise  and  fall  of  ideas ;  or,  in  other 
words,  the  feelings  connected  with  ideas  determine  which 
shall  occupy  the  focus  of  consciousness.  Feeling,  however, 
is  the  most  subjective  phase  of  our  mental  life.  Two  per- 
sons must  go  through  substantially  the  same  mental  process 
in  the  mastery  of  a  purely  intellectual  problem,  such,  for 
instance,  as  mathematics  furnishes  ;  but  their  feelings,  even 
about  such  matters,  are  likely  to  be  quite  unlike.  In 
nothing  are  w^  so  individual,  so  different  from  others,  as 
in  our  feelings  and  emotions.  But  since  it  is  feeling  that 
gives  the  motive  value  to  an  idea,  we  can  understand  why 
apperception  has  such  high  subjective  significance.  This 
shows  why  the  ideas  awakened,  for  example,  by  a  walk  in 
the  forest  would  be  so  different  with  different  people  ;  why 
one  would  attend  only  to  the  plants,  another  to  the  animals, 
another  to  the  poetic  ideas  suggested,  another  to  elevated 
thoughts  about  the  creator  of  all.  It  is  here,  again,  that  we 
see  the  wonderful  potency  of  interest  in  education.  An  in- 
terest in  a  subject  is  only  a  constant  set  of  motive  values 
for  ideas,  so  that  as  soon  as  such  a  mental  tendency  is 
established,  countless  ideas  claim  the  apperceiving  power 
of  the  mind,  that  would  otherwise  pass  unchallenged. 

(6)  In  its  active  phases  apperception  is  no  longer  guided 
by  the  single  motive,  but  is  delayed  on  account  of  the 
competing  motive  values  of  several  ideas.  There  is  delib- 
eration, and  finally  choice,  in  accordance  with  temporary 
or  permanent  interests.  Apperception  now  loses  the  more 
or  less  mechanical  aspects  seen  in  its  passive  manifestations, 
so  that  the  train  of  ideas  is  fixed  more  in  accordance  with 
rational  content,  or,  at  any  rate,  by  ruling  interests  of  the 
mind.     The  fleeting  aspects  of  feeling   give  way  to   the 


APPERCEPTION,  41 

establishment  of  more  permanent  modes  of  feeling,  or 
interests,  thus  determining  still  more  subjectively  the 
direction  that  apperception  shall  take. 

(7)  It  is  through  apperception  that  interpreting  groups 
or  masses  of  ideas  are  formed,  thus  making  it  easy  to 
determine  the  significance  of  large  numbers  of  facts.  Our 
knowledge  becomes  in  this  way  compact  and  manageable. 
On  the  other  hand,  apperception  enables  us  also  to  examine 
the  members  of  a  group,  one  by  one. 

(8)  Not  only  can  apperception  be  studied  along  the 
lines  laid  down  in  the  present  section,  which  considers  the 
subject  from  the  standpoint  of  the  idea  or  notion  as  a 
factor  of  mental  life,  but  it  may  also  be  investigated  from 
the  remaining  topics  in  logic  ;  viz.,  the  judgment  and  the 
syllogism.  The  next  section  contains  a  brief  analysis  of 
apperception  from  the  standpoint  of  the  judgment,  while 
Chapter  iv.  contains  an  examination  of  the  topic  from  the 
side  of  the  syllogism. 

§  11.  It  is  a  fact  well  known  to  psychologists  that  the 
primary  function  of  intelligence  is  to  formulate  thought  in 
the  judgment.  Whatever  can  be  a  matter  of  thought  at 
all  can  be,  and  indeed  in  the  last  analysis  must  be,  reduced 
to  the  form  of  the  judgment.  The  nature  of  the  judgment 
is  seen  in  its  symbol,  or  representation,  the  sentence.  This 
is  necessarily  the  junction  of  subject  and  predicate  by  the 
copula,  expressed,  or  implied  in  the  verb.  There  are  three 
possible  relations  between  subject  and  predicate,  two  of 
which  in  themselves  add  nothing  to  our  knowledge :  — 

(1)  The  subject  may  be  more  general  than  the  predicate  ; 
as,  An  animal  is  a  dog.     (Analytical  judgment.) 

(2)  The  subject  and  predicate  may  be  identical ;  as,  A 
dog  is  a  dog.     (Identical  judgment.) 

(3)  The  subject  may  be  less  general  than  the  predicate ; 
as.  Carlo  is  a  dog.     (Synthetic  judgment.) 


42  THE,  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

The  first  of  these  forms  has  no  value  in  extending  our 
knowledge  when  the  subject  is  understood,  since  the  predi- 
cate is  plainly  seen  to  be  otAj^l  pai't  of  the  subject.  When 
Hamlet  wished  to  withhold  information,  he  said,  — 

"  There's  ne'er  a  villain  dwelling  in  all  Denmark 
But  he's  an  arrant  knave.'^ 

In  this  case  the  subject  is  a  broader  term  than  the  predi- 
cate, and  already  contains  it  by  implication.  There  is  one 
case,  however,  when  this  form  of  the  judgment  is  of  value ; 
viz.,  when  the  subject  of  the  judgment  contains  more  than 
is  clearly  seen  by  the  speaker.  Thus  in  the  judgment. 
This  body  has  weight,  only  one  thing  is  asserted,  but  exten- 
sion, impenetrability,  origin,  purp)ose,  etc.,  are  all  involved 
in  the  subject  body.  The  pedagogical  significance  of  this 
fact  will  be  dwelt  upon  l^ater. 

The  second,  or  identical,  form  of  the  judgment  is  useless 
for  the  extension  of  knowledge,  except  when  the/orm  of 
the  terms  is  different.  Thus,  4  =  4,  a  =  a,  have  no  value  ; 
but  2  X  2  =  4,  or  (a  +  b)2  =  a^  +2  ab  +  b^,  and  other 
mathematical  equations  furnish  us  with  a  valuable  instru- 
ment for  working  out  results. 

The  only  form  of  the  judgment,  therefore,  which  really 
widens  our  knowledge  is  the  third,  or  that  in  which  the 
predicate  is  a  broader  term  than  the  subject.  Thus  in  the 
word  earth  there  is  not  involved  the  idea  of  revolution,  so 
that  when  I  say  to  one  who  does  not  know  the  fact,  The 
earth  revolves,  I  have  extended  his  knowledge  through  the 
synthetic  judgment.  So  in  the  judgments,  Carlo  is  a  dog, 
Most  coral  is  red,  Newton  discovered  the  law  of  gravitation. 

In  every  synthetic  judgment,  the  predicate  is  a  more 
general  term  than  the  subject,  but  we  need,  at  this  point, 
to  perceive  clearly  the  relation  of  content  and  extent  in 


APPERCEPTION  43 

these  terms.  Should  we  think  only  of  extent  and  content 
in  the  strictly  logical  sense,  the  judgment,  This  object  is  an 
animal,  it  is  plain  to  see  would  convey  but  very  meager 
knowledge,  for  the  single-celled  amoeba  is  an  animal,  and 
has  but  few  characteristics  common  to  all  animals.  Should 
I  say  in  answer  to  the  query.  What  kind  of  an  animal  ? 
It  is  a  vertebrate,  I  should  greatly  enrich  the  knowledge,  for 
the  content  is  much  enlarged.  Contiuuing,  I  say,  It  is  a 
m,amnial ;  it  is  carnivorous  ;  its  family  is  Felidce  ;  its  genus, 
Felis ;  its  species,  Felis  domesticus  Linnceus ;  its  variety, 
Angorensis.  At  each  stage,  I  have  narrowed  the  extent, 
and  enriched  the  content  of  the  notion  of  the  object  with 
which  I  started. 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that  with  a  mind  which  has 
had  any  considerable  experience,  the  term  house-cat,  for 
instance,  though  logically  itself  restricted  to  a  compara- 
tively small  extent,  really  presupposes  the  more  extended 
terms,  mammal,  vertebrate,  animal. 

We  may  say,  then,  in  general,  that  the  amount  of  in- 
formation conveyed  by  any  given  predication  depends  upon 
the  wealth  of  content  and  the  implied  breadth  of  extent 
which  the  predicate-term  has  for  the  learner.  If,  then,  per- 
ception gives  me  a  new  notion,  I  shall  evidently  understand 
or  apprehend  it  when  I  can  subsume  it  under  some  familiar 
predicate  having  greater  extent  and  richer  content  than  the 
new  object  of  thought  has  presented  to  my  mind.  From 
the  standpoint  of  the  judgment,  then,  apperception  may  be 
defined  as  follows :  — 

Apperception  is  the  suhsumption  of  a  notion,  usually  7iewly 
given  and  more  or  less  individual,  under  a  predicate  which 
is  more  complete  in  content  and  extent,  and  which  is  usually 
older  and  more  familiar. 

Apperception  does  not  always  follow  perception  immedi- 


44  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

ately,  for  years  sometimes  intervene  between  the  learning 
of  a  fact  and  its  comprehension.  In  general,  a  period  of 
reflection  commonly  precedes  the  complete  apperception  of 
a  new  subject  of  knowledge  ;  though,  as  Lazarus  says,  "  The 
apperceiving  conceptions  usually  stand,  like  armed  soldiers, 
within  the  strongholds  of  consciousness,  ready  to  pounce 
upon  everything  that  shows  itself  within  the  portals  of  the 
senses,  in  order  to  overcome  it,  and  make  it  serviceable  to 
themselves." 

The  new  is  not  always  apperceived  by  the  old,  for  it 
often  happens  that  old  and  apparently  well-grounded  ideas 
are  revolutionized  by  some  new-found  truth,  which  com- 
pels a  readjustment.  This  has  often  been  the  case  in 
science.  The  Copernican  theory  of  the  solar  system  com- 
pelled a  readjustment  of  the  mediaeval  religious  conceptions 
which  had  grown  up  in  accordance  with  the  Ptolemaic  idea 
that  the  heavens  revolve  about  the  earth.  As  Volkmann 
says,  "The  indisputable  evidence  of  a  new  perception 
necessitates  the  already  firmly  fixed  theory  to  undergo 
modifications ;  new  experiences  unsettle  old  convictions, 
and  in  general  break  up  old  and  cherished  notions."  If 
such  a  transformation  comes  on  suddenly,  it  is  character- 
ized by  violent  emotional  excitement,  as  when  we  discover 
treachery  in  one  whom  we  have  regarded  as  a  friend.  The 
same  phenomenon  is  seen  in  the  changing  of  one's  politi- 
cal convictions,  or  in  suddenly  changing  from  a  life  of  sin 
to  one  of  righteousness,  through  religious  conversion. 


PART     11. 
NECESSARY    STAGES    OF    RATIONAL    METHODS. 


CHAPTER   III. 

APPERCEPTION   OF  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS. 

§  12.  We  have  seen  how  apperception,  or  the  subsiimp- 
tion  of  new  subjects  under  old  predicates,  is  the  condition 
of  understanding.  It  must  at  the  feame  time  be  the  condi- 
tion of  all  interest,  for  the  mind  has  no  interest  in  that 
which  it  does  not  understand.  Not  all  things  understood 
are  interesting,  but  nothing  not  understood,  in  some  degree 
at  least,  can  possibly  awaken  interest.  There  are,  there- 
fore, two  powerful  incentives  for  the  teacher  to  study  the 
conditions  of  apperception,  —  the  desire  to  have  his  pupils 
comprehend,  and  the  desire  to  have  them  interested. 

§  13.  It  might,  at  first  thought,  seem  that  the  native 
spontaneity  of  the  mind  would  do  all  that  is  necessary  to 
bring  up  these  related  conceptions  which  are  to  serve  as 
predicates  for  the  new  notions  acquired  through  instruction, 
but  reflection  will  show  that  this  is  true  to  a  limited  extent 
only.  Who  has  not  seen  children  completely  baffled  by 
some  mathematical  relation,  which  a  skillful  question  or 
two  would  reveal  ?  Is  it  not  a  daily  experience  of  the 
teacher  to  find  pupils  failing  to  comprehend  statements  in 
reading  or  grammar  or  number  or  natural  science  or  geog- 
raphy, simply  because  their  own  spontaneity  of  mind  is- 

45 


46  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

not  sufficient  to  supply  those  interpreting  ideas,  which  the 
teacher  might  easily  cause  to  appear  in  consciousness  ?  It 
is,  therefore,  the  first  great  function  of  the  teacher  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  rapid  and  efficient  assimilation  of  that 
knoivledge  which  the  study  hour  or  the  recitation  period  is  to 
furnish. 

§  14.  The  teacher's  activity  in  this  first  great  depart- 
ment of  education  is  naturally  of  two  kinds :  (1)  The 
preparation  of  the  child^s  mind  for  a  rapid  and  effective 
assimilation  of  new  knowledge,  and  (2)  The  presentation 
of  the  ^natter  of  instruction  in  such  order  and  unanner  as  will 
best  conduce  to  the  most  effective  assiinilation. 

PREPARATIOX. 

§  15.  From  what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  seen  that  this 
term  means  that  preliminary  effort  of  the  teacher,  which  is 
designed  to  prepare  the  mind  of  the  pupil  for  a  ready 
apperception,  or  assimilation,  of  the  new  knowledge  about 
to  be  presented. 

§  16.  To  understand  the  real  nature  of  this  process,  we 
must  recur  to  the  first  form  of  the  judgment,  or  that  form 
in  which  the  subject  involves  more  than  is  seen  in  the 
j)redicate.  The  child  when  he  enters  school  knows  many 
things,  has  coupled  many  predicates  to  many  subjects ;  but 
neither  at  this  stage  nor  at  any  subsequent  stage  of  his 
education  has  he  coupled  to  his  subjects  of  knowledge  all 
the  predicates  involved  in  them.  According  to  the  law  of 
apperception  no  child  can  really  learn  and  understand  any 
new  knowledge  for  which  he  has  not  a  store  of  related  con- 
ceptions which  can  be  applied  as  predicates.  It  may  be, 
and  most  probably  will  be,  the  case  that  these  needed  predi- 
cates are  held  in  the  child's  knowledge  only  by  implication, 
"and  that  it  will  need  a  preparatory  effort  on  the  teacher's 


APPERCEPTION   OF  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.       47 

part  to  bring  the  needed  apperceiving  conceptions  to  the  full 
consciousness  of  the  pupil.  Preparation,  therefore,  seeks 
to  recall  former  knowledge,  and  to  bring  to  consciousness 
those  needed  and  implied  conceptions  which  through  predi- 
cation should  reach  out  like  so  many  spiritual  arms,  to 
embrace  and  draw  into  living  relations  to  themselves  the 
new  elements  of  knowledge  which  it  is  the  business  of  the 
hour  to  cause  to  appear  in  the  mind  of  the  child. 

§  17.  Where,  as  with  small  children  or  in  certain  kinds 
of  oral  work,  no  lesson  for  study  is  assigned,  this  prepara- 
tion will  take  place,  in  general,  at  the  beginning  of  each 
recitation,  though  it  will  often  happen  that  a  general  prepa- 
ration covering  a  whole  section  of  a  subject  may  render 
much  preparation  on  daily  subdivisions  unnecessary.  This 
matter  will  be  further  discussed  under  the  subject  of 
method-wholes.  In  classes  where  lessons  are  regularly 
assigned  in  text-books,  the  main  part  of  the  preparation 
should  be  made  when  the  lesson  is  assigned  for  study.  A 
repetition  of  the  same  at  the  beginning  of  the  recitation 
may  be  helpful. 

The  nature  and  amount  of  preparation  necessary  will 
depend  upon  the  mind  of  the  pupil.  In  general,  one  year's 
work  is  a  preparation  for  the  next ;  so  of  the  work  of  each 
term  or  month  or  week  or  day,  and  it  is  on  account  of  the 
laws  of  apperception  that  gaps  in  education  are  to  be 
avoided.  But  this  general  preparation  does  not  often 
suffice.  Though  facts  enough  to  explain  the  new  lesson 
may  have  been  previously  taught,  the  mind  may,  on  account 
of  forgetfulness,  or  because  it  is  busied  with  other  things, 
remain  unconscious  of  them  at  the  time  when  they  are 
needed  to  illuminate  the  new  and  make  it  instinct  with 
meaning  by  supplying  the  appropriate  predicates.  Or,  if 
the  mind  recalls  the  older  and  related  conceptions,  they 


48  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

may  yet  be  dim  and  weak,  or  may  fail  to  appear  in  the  best 
order,  or  they  may  be  mere  feeble  general  impressions. 
Under  such  conditions,  it  is  needful  for  the  teacher  to 
make  special  effort  to  put  the  minds  of  his  pupils  into 
proper  relations  to  the  lesson  about  to  be  imparted. 

These  efforts  may  be  considered  in  the  following  order:  — 
(1)  A  clear  and  attractive  statement  of  the  object  of  the 
lesson,  or  the  end  to  be  reached.  Thus^  for  example,  the 
teacher  may  say,  "We  have  learned  that  the  earth  is  a 
great  ball  or  globe  which  is  free  in  space.  We  will  now 
consider  whether  it  is  at  rest  or  in  motion.'^  Or,  "We 
have  seen  that  a  fraction  is  multiplied  by  multiplying  its 
numerator ;  let  us  see  if  it  can  be  multiplied  in  any  other 
way."  Or,  "We  have  found  that  the  nature  of  thought 
gives  rise  to  the  subject,  the  copula,  and  the  predicate,  or 
attribute,  of  the  sentence ;  let  us  see,  if  possible,  what 
property  of  thought  gives  rise  to  the  adjective."  But  little 
thought  is  needed  to  see  that  it  would  be  very  unpedagogi- 
cal  not  to  have  the  pupil  understand  from  the  beginning 
what  the  aim  of  the  lesson  is.  In  the  first  place,  an  attrac- 
tive or  forcible  statement  of  the  end  to  be  reached,  helps  to 
dispel  from  the  child's  mind  the  distracting  thoughts  which 
may  be  sporting  there,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  what 
the  teacher  wants  to  impart.  Next,  it  helps  to  put  the 
pupil  into  the  frame  of  mind  in  which  it  is  desired  he 
should  work.  It  excites  expectation,  stimulates  interest, 
and  allows  instruction  to  begin  under  favorable  conditions. 
It  gives  the  pupil  a  favorable  impulse  towards  right  willing, 
and  disposes  him  to  self-activity  in  the  solution  of  the 
appointed  task.  But  when  the  end  to  be  reached  is  not 
indicated,  the  danger  is  that  not  only  the  above-mentioned 
advantages  will  be  sacrificed,  but  that  the  pupil,  not  know- 
ing where  he  is  going,  will  become  confused,  especially  if 


APPERCEPTION  OF  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.        49 

he  is  kept  long  in  the  dark.  He  cannot  go  forward  intelli- 
gently, nor  can  he  retrace  his  steps.  His  mind  is  be- 
wildered by  perceiving  results  for  which  he  is  no  longer 
able  to  account.  But  if  he  advances  with  a  clear  conscious- 
ness of  the  end  he  is  striving  to  reach,  he  will  not  become 
confused,  unless  the  explanation  itself  is  confusing. 

(2)  With  the  purpose  or  aim  of  the  lesson  about  to  be  pre- 
sented always  in  view,  it  is  plain  that  the  concepts  result- 
ing from  the  analysis  of  the  present  store  of  knowledge 
should  be  derived  or  developed  in  unbroken  and  virtually 
connected  chain  from  the  beginning  to  the  close;  for  in 
this  way  the  mind  reaches  its  greatest  capability  of  taking 
on  and  assimilating  new  knowledge.  But  if  the  time  is 
spent  in  recalling  past  concepts  without  any  regard  to  their 
co-ordination  and  logical  connection,  or  in  developing  the 
non-essential,  it  is  plain  that  the  child's  mind  will  not  be 
so  ready  to  apprehend  the  new  lesson  in  its  full  signifi- 
cance. The  teacher  should,  therefore,  endeavor  to  discover 
which  of  those  main  concepts,  already  within  the  grasp  of 
the  child,  need  to  be  recalled  or  derived  in  order  best  to 
master  the  new  lesson.  He  should  then  arrange  these  in 
their  logical  order,  and  proceed  to  bring  them  to  the  child's 
consciousness  in  this  order.  The  ease  with  which  this 
logical  arrangement  can  be  secured  will  depend  largely 
upon  the  logical  arrangement  of  the  subject-matter  of  the 
daily  lessons.  If  this  is  what  it  should  be,  but  little  effort 
at  special  arrangement  is  necessary  in  the  preparation. 
The  more  remote  the  new  lesson  is  from  the  recent  study 
of  the  child,  the  more  elaborate  must  be  the  preparation. 
Ordinarily  a  few  sharply  put  questions  will  suffice  to  place 
the  pupils  in  a  frame  of  mind  best  adapted  to  understand 
the  new  lesson. 

(3)  The  preparation  and  the  new  lesson  should  not  be 


60  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

mixed  up  together  during  the  preparation,  for  this  is  likely 
to  lead  to  confusion  of  thought,  and  may  lead  to  a  lack  of 
interest.  A  foreshadowing  of  what  is  to  come,  however, 
may  secure  increased  interest  and  mental  activity.  If, 
when  a  new  truth  is  presented,  a  pupil  discovers  that  he 
had  dimly  foreseen  it,  his  pleasure  in  the  acquisition  may 
be  greatly  increased  thereby.  A  skillful  dramatist  never 
fully  reveals  his  plot  ahead  of  its  unfolding,  nor  does  he, 
on  the  other  hand,  ever  allow  any  great  but  entirely  unex- 
pected culmination  to  occur.  Every  stage  in  his  drama  is 
a  preparation  for  the  next,  but  not  a  revelation  of  it.  The 
revelation  of  the  unknown  but  not  altogether  unexpected 
is  a  fine  art  with  the  dramatist  and  the  novelist,  and  should 
be  with  the  teacher. 

(4)  The  preparation  should  be  so  extended  as  to  cover  the 
entire  matter  of  the  new  lesson,  or  such  part  of  it  as  may 
be  regarded  as  a  method-whole,  in  order  that  time  and 
interest  may  not  be  sacrificed  by  tiresome  explanations 
after  the  presentation  of  the  new  matter  has  been  begun. 
Wherever  much  of  this  appears  necessary,  it  is  certain  that 
the  preparation  has  been  inadequate,  or  that  the  matter  is 
not  suited  to  the  present  mental  acquirements  or  ability  of 
the  pupils. 

(5)  As  to  the  form  of  the  preparation,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  a  free  exchange  of  thought  between  teacher  and  pupils 
in  the  form  of  question  and  answer,  or  conversation,  is  the 
best.  Anything  that  smacks  of  examination  is  out  of 
place,  since  it  is  destructive  of  that  free  movement  of 
thought  which  is  here  so  desirable ;  furthermore,  it  effects 
no  valuable  result,  besides  being  deadening  to  a  direct 
interest  in  the  subject.  Pupils  delight  in  an  exercise  which 
gives  free  play  to  their  individuality,  nor  should  this 
free    play    of   thought    be   rudely   checked,   even    though 


APPERCEPTION  OF  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.        51 

matters  important  only  in  the  eyes  of  the  child  should  be 
developed.  A  skillful  teacher  can  easily  guide  the  free 
thought  of  the  pupils  to  the  main  issue,  without  checking 
its  spontaneity;  besides,  the  announced  purpose  of  the 
lesson  makes  it  easy  to  keep  out  irrelevant  matter. 

(6)  Repetitions,  and  even  drill  upon  the  main  points 
brought  out,  may  be  profitable,  but  an  exhibition  of  deep 
earnestness  of  manner  or  tone  is  out  of  place  in  the  prepa- 
ration. This  should  be  reserved  for  a  later  stage,  when  it 
is  desired  to  impress  some  new  truth  brought  out  by  the 
lesson. 

When  the  teacher  has  done  as  much  as  he  thinks  profit- 
able in  way  of  preparation,  he  will  proceed,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  to  the  presentation  of  the  lesson. 

PRESEXTATION. 

§  18.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  child  possesses  so 
much  knowledge  when  he  enters  school  that  there  is  in- 
volved in  it  all  that  he  will  subsequently  need  to  know,  so 
that  a  mere  analysis  of  what  he  now  has  will  reveal  all 
that  he  should  ever  have.  In  this  sense  Jacotot's  dictum, 
All  is  in  all,  is  false.  New  knowledge  must  be  imparted. 
Old  predicates  must  be  supplied  with  new  subjects  in  which 
the  predicates  are  not  already  involved.  These  new  predi- 
cations enrich  former  ones,  so  that  the  subsuming  of  new 
subjects  under  old  predicates  widens  and  enriches  old 
conceptions,  which  in  turn  extend  the  significance  of  sub- 
sequent elements  of  knowledge.  Omitting  the  second,  or 
identical,  form  of  judgment,  A  is  A,  which  as  we  have 
seen  is  valuable  only  as  a  mathematical  instrument  for 
ascertaining  numerical  relations,  we  come  to  the  third 
form  of  the  judgment,  in  which  the  predicate  is  a  broader 
and  deeper  term  than  the  subject.     The  first  kind  of  judg- 


52  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

ment  has  been  called  analytical,  because  an  analysis  of  the 
subject  shows  that  the  predicate  was  already  involved  in 
it.  The  third,  or  last,  kind  of  judgment  has  been  called 
synthetical,  because  the  predicate  is  something  united  to 
the  subject,  —  something  which  is  outside  of  the  subject, — 
not  implied  in  it.  In  the  word  Carlo  is  not  involved  the 
idea  dog,  so  that  the  sentence,  Carlo  is  a  dog,  expresses  a 
true  synthetic  judgment.  It  is  evident,  then,  that  if  the 
child  is  to  learn  anything  new,  the  teaching  must  be  of  this 
synthetic,  or  additive,  nature.  Without  the  gaining  and 
assimilating  of  new  facts,  or  elements  of  knowledge,  there 
can  be  but  little  advance  in  mental  growth.  At  this  stage 
of  our  investigation,  it  is  entirely  immaterial  how  these  facts 
are  obtained,  so  that  they  are  7ieiv,  not  already  involved 
in  what  the  pupil  knows.  Facts  may,  for  example,  be  ob- 
tained by  induction  or  by  deduction,  or  they  may  be  gained 
through  a  primary  use  of  the  senses ;  they  may  be  learned 
from  a  book  or  from  the  lips  of  the  teacher.  In  any  case, 
presentation  sees  that  these  facts  are  brought  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  pupil  in  such  a  way  that  they  may  be 
readily  assimilated,  or,  in  other  words,  be  properly  under- 
stood. 

§  19.  An  exhaustive  treatise  on  presentation  might  con- 
sider the  whole  course  of  development  for  each  branch  of 
study,  and  also  the  relations  of  inter-dependence  among  the 
various  subjects  of  the  curriculum,  because  each  of  these 
departments  of  inquiry  has  a  bearing  on  the  reception  and 
assimilation  of  knowledge.  One  large  German  pedagogical 
school  advocate  the  presentation  of  most  subjects  according 
to  what  is  called  the  historical  stages  of  culture  ;  this  posi- 
tion being  taken,  on  the  theory  that  each  child,  in  its 
development,  passes  through  all  the  stages  of  thought 
through  which  the  world  has  passed  in  its  historical  devel- 


APPERCEPTION  OF  INDIVIDUAL   NOTIONS.       53 

opment.  We  should,  therefore,  say  they  present  to  a  child 
of  any  given  age  that  stage  in  the  development  of  the  sub- 
ject in  which  the  world  was  at  the  time  now  typically 
represented  by  the  child.  For  example,  Ziller  and  his 
followers  recommend  the  following  order  of  topics  foi 
religion  and  history :  first  year,  '^  Grimm's  Fairy  Tales " 
(Marchen)  ;  second  year,  "  Robinson  Crusoe ; "  third  year, 
Bible  stories  from  the  time  of  the  patriarchs,  "  Legends  of 
Thuringia "  (Thiiringer  Sagen)  ;  fourth  year,  Bible  stories 
from  the  time  of  the  Judges,  then  of  the  Kings,  "  Nibel- 
ungen  Tales ; "  hfth  year,  Bible  stories  from  the  time  of 
Christ,  History  of  Henry  I.,  Otto  I.,  Charlemagne;  sixth 
year,  Bible  stories  from  the  time  of  Christ  continued.  Migra- 
tion of  the  Nations,  Roman  Empire  and  the  Pope,  The 
Crusades,  The  Middle  Ages,  Rudolph  von  Hapsburg; 
seventh  year.  The  Original  Congregations  or  Churches,  The 
Apostle  Paul,  Discovery  of  America  and  its  first  settle- 
ment. History  of  the  Reformation,  The  Thirty  Years'  War ; 
(eighth  year.  Instruction  in  the  Catechism,  "  Frederick  the 
Great,"  The  Napoleonic  wars  for  independence,  The  Resto- 
ration of  the  German  Empire. 

This  school  make  religion  and  history  the  central  sub- 
jects for  the  work  of  each  year,  and  seek  to  relate  all  the 
other  instruction  to  them.  This  is  the  idea  of  concentration^ 
according  to  which  no  subject  of  study  should  be  isolated 
from  the  others,  but  all  school  study  should  be  related  to 
some  common  center.  Other  eminent  schoolmen  claim 
that  the  arrangement  and  co-ordination  of  school  studies 
should  be  quite  otherwise.  But,  however  interesting  these 
topics  may  be  in  themselves,  they  lie  beyond  the  range 
which  has  been  set  for  this  treatise  on  methods. 

§  20.  The  questions  of  the  selection,  arrangement,  and 
co-ordination  of  school  studies  being  excluded  from  our 


64  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

present  consideration,  we  have  now  to  examine  the  guiding 
principles  of  a  rational  daily  presentation  of  the  matter  of 
instruction. 

The  Law  of  Successive  Clearness.  —  AVe  have  seen 
that  any  advance  in  knowledge  comes  by  subsuming  new 
subjects  under  old  predicates,  — that  this  is  the  essence  of 
apperception,  or  mental  assimilation.  But  this  mental 
movement  is  a  movement  in  time.  It  requires  a  certain 
amount  of  time  to  gain  a  clear  perception  of  the  new  ele- 
ments of  knowledge,  whether  these  elements  originate 
through  the  senses  or  through  the  understanding.  It  also 
requires  a  certain  amount  of  time  for  the  predication. 
Besides  these  two  elements,  there  is  an  intellectual  element 
of  thought,  which  enables  the  mind  to  perceive  relations 
between  new  and  old  elements  of  knowledge.  As  has  been 
hinted  before,  there  is  a  reciprocal  action  between  new 
subject  and  old  predicate.  If  the  older  and  broader  predi- 
cates enable  the  mind  to  understand  the  significance  of 
the  new  elements  of  knowledge,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  do 
the  new  subjects  broaden  and  complete  the  former  concep- 
tions which  serve  as  predicates.'^ 

1  Dr.  W,  T.  Harris  says  (Rosenkranz,  "  Philosophy  of  Education,"  pp. 
75,  76),  "  Perception  is  increased  immensely  in  power  by  adding  to  it  con- 
ception, which  brings  the  aid  of  the  general  image  in  which  are  summed 
up  all  previous  perceptions;  thus  perception  re-enforced  by  conception  is 
an  individual  activity  re-enforced  by  the  sum-total  of  the  race  activity,  or 
at  least  by  the  sum-total  of  all  previous  activity  of  the  same  individual 
as  well  as  by  what  he  has  learned  from  his  fellows.  Thus,  too,  percep- 
tion is  still  more  increased  by  adding  to  it  the  thinking  activity,  which 
perceives  necessary  relations.  Agassiz  looks  at  a  new  lish  from  the 
Amazon  River,  and  sees  at  once  its  type  and  its  variations ;  knows  at  once 
the  great  mass  of  its  properties,  functions,  faculties,  habits,  and  history, 
simply  by  its  classification  under  already  known  genera,  species,  and  sub- 
classes. This  enables  him  to  distinguish  at  once  its  variations  from  the 
general  type,  and  to  see  the  significance  of  its  peculiarities.    In  the  same 


APPERCEPTION  OF  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.       55 

Upon  the  fact  that  certain  easily  distinguishable  amounts 
of  time  are  required  for  this  reception  and  apprehension  of 
individual  notions,  and  the  interaction  between  individual 
and  general  conceptions,  is  based  the  law  of  successive 

CLEARNESS. 

§  21.  This  law  was  first  announced  by  Ratich,  and  was 
afterwards  developed  and  applied  by  Herbart  and  Ziller. 
According  to  this  idea,  the  matter  of  instruction  must  not 
be  presented  in  the  mass,  but  in  small,  logically  connected 
sections,  to  each  of  which,  in  succession,  the  pupil  should 
give  his  undivided  attention.  In  this  way,  one  by  one, 
individual  notions  are  clearly  perceived.  But,  as  already 
explained,  individual  notions  are  not  assimilated  until  they 
are  subsumed  under  predicates.  It  is  thus  evident  that 
after  the  mind  has  given  its  concentrated  attention  to  each 
of  the  successive  sections  of  the  lesson  in  turn,  these  sub- 
divisions must  be  brought  into  close  relation  and  connec- 
tion ;  i.e.,  must  through  predication  be  brought  into  a  unity 
in  consciousness.     To  neglect  the  division  of  the  lesson  into 

manner  a  botanist  (Professor  Gray,  for  example)  glances  at  a  tree  as  he 
passes  it  rapidly,  from  the  car  window.  He  sees  its  resemblances  and  its 
differences,  however,  in  that  rapid  glance,  because  he  subsumes  it  under 
all  that  he  knows ;  all  that  is  known,  in  fact,  as  the  aggregate  result  of 
all  observations  for  thousands  of  years.  By  recognizing  its  series,  class, 
sub-class,  order,  sub-order,  tribe,  genus,  species,  and  variety,  he  is  in- 
stantly in  possession  of  information  enough  to  make  a  library  of  books  on 
the  subject  of  that  one  tree.  He  saw  enough,  too,  in  the  rapid  glance  to 
inform  himself  of  its  individual  differences,  its  particular  size,  shape,  and 
condition,  in  so  far  as  these  were  peculiar.  Contrast  this  with  the  infor- 
juation  obtained  by  the  sense-perception  of  an  observer  endowed  with 
excellent  sight  but  no  knowledge  of  botany.  Science,  which  is  the 
I)roduct  of  conception  and  thinking,  thus  re-enforces  sense-perception, 
which  demands  for  its  perfection  those  higher  activities ;  and,  vice  versa, 
thinking  and  conception,  which  deal  with  the  universal,  or  the  possibility 
and  the  process  which  creates  particular  individuals,  demand  sense-per- 
ception to  take  cognizance  of  those  individuals." 


56  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

minor  unities,  or  sections,  would  be  to  sacrifice  clearness  of 
individual  notions,  and  to  get  only  crude  general  impres- 
sions of  the  whole.  On  the  other  hand,  to  fail  to  associate 
the  parts  of  the  lesson,  and  to  bring  them  to  consciousness 
as  a  logical  unity,  would  be  to  leave  the  mind  distracted  by 
the  apprehension  of  a  confused  mass  of  disconnected  details. 
These  two  steps,  the  absorption  of  individual  notions,  and 
bheir  apperception  as  connected,  Herbart  compares  to  the 
process  of  breathing,  calling  them  the  inspiration  and  expi- 
ration of  the  soul.  Our  maxim,  step  by  step,  has  to  do  with 
this  process,  but  it  is  incomplete,  for  it  suggests  only  the 
subdivision,  without  hinting  at  its  purpose,  the  clear  per- 
ception of  individuals  and  their  proper  synthesis  in  con- 
sciousness. 

§  22.  The  matter  of  instruction  must,  therefore,  be  pre- 
sented in  natural  subdivisions,  thus  giving  resting-places 
which  allow  the  mind  to  recover  from  its  absorption  in  the 
individual,  and  to  fortify  itself  against  distraction  by  bring- 
ing its  knowledge  into  wholes.  How  minute  the  subdivi- 
sions of  the  lesson  should  be,  must  be  determined  by  the 
age  and  mental  strength  of  the  pupils.  Arithmetic  and 
mathematics  in  general  furnish  the  most  perfect  exemplifi- 
-eation  of  the  truth  of  the  law  of  successive  clearness,  and 
of  the  necessity  of  obeying  it.  If  the  steps  of  reasoning  in 
a  problem  are  not  separated  and  mastered  one  by  one,  there 
is  instant  danger  of  confusion,  though  the  amount  which  a 
pupil  can  master  at  one  impulse  grows  with  advancing 
mental  ability.  The  same  law  holds,  also,  in  all  other 
branches.  Take,  for  example,  the  first  lesson  in  the  Second 
Reader.  If  the  books  are  opened,  and  the  pupils  are  di- 
rected to  read  at  sight,  the  probability  is  that  the  result 
will  be  a  failure.  All  the  difficulties  come  at  once  upon 
the  pupil.     Many  of  the  old  words  will  not  be  recognized 


APPERCEPTION  OF  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.       57 

in  their  new  surroundings,  while  the  new  words  can  of 
course  not  be  grasped  at  once,  nor  can  the  new  thought, 
in  accordance  with  this  law,  the  teacher  must  determine 
what  the  difficulties  are  likely  to  be,  and  then  overcome 
them  one  by  one.  He  should,  for  instance,  refresh  the 
minds  of  his  pupils  upon  those  words  of  the  lesson  which 
they  have  had  before,  but  which  they  may  not  at  once 
remember.  He  can  do  this  by  writing  them  upon  the 
board  in  familiar  sentences,  or  by  pointing  to  them  on  the 
chart,  or  by  spelling  them  out  with  detached  letters.  Then 
he  must  give  instruction  upon  new  words.  He  might, 
when  the  pupils  know  the  subject  of  the  lesson,  easily  draw 
from  them  the  ideas  likely  to  be  found  in  such  a  lesson. 
He  could  then  place  upon  the  board  the  new  words  repre- 
senting these  ideas,  and  by  spelling,  syllabicating,  phonic 
analysis,  etc.,  impress  them  upon  the  minds  of  his  pupils. 
The  reading  may  now  proceed  with  some  prospect  of  suc- 
cess, for  the  teacher  has  observed  the  law  of  successive 
clearness,  has  proceeded  step  by  step. 

§  23.  The  Series.  —  Since  all  mental  activity  presup- 
poses time  as  its  necessary  condition,  it  follows  that  all  our 
per(ieptions,  and  knowledge  in  general,  so  far  as  one  ele- 
ment does  not  fuse  or  coincide  compl-etely  with  another, 
must  be  acquired  and  held  in  time  series.  Upon  the 
intimacy  of  association  depends  very  largely  the  power  of 
reproducing,  or  remembering,  all  the  numbers  of  a  series 
when  one  of  them  is  given.  It  follows  from  this,  that  it  is 
a  prime  duty  of  the  teacher  to  see  that  the  elements  of  what 
is  presented  are  arranged  in  natural  series,  so  that  intimate 
and  lasting  associations  can  be  formed.  As  an  illustration 
of  how  easily  even  bare  words  can  be  held  if  associated,  let 
the  reader  note  the  following  list  of  ten  words,  thinking  as 
he  reads  of  how  each  word  suggests  its  successor :   Glad- 


58  TBE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

stojie,  quarry,  blasting,  dynamite,  Anarchists,  Haymarket, 
meadow,  sheep,  wool,  protection.  Having  done  this,  lay 
aside  the  book,  and  repeat  the  list  from  memory.  It  is 
quite  as  easy  to  repeat  it  backward  as  forward,  or  to  begin 
with  any  word  of  the  series,  and  recite  either  way.  Hun- 
dreds of  words  can  be  associated  in  this  way,  and  easily  re- 
cited forward  and  backward  or  from  any  intermediate  word. 
But  if  we  take  ten  unassociated  words,  we  shall  find  much 
mental  effort  necessary  to  accomplish  the  same  results, 
thus :  quarry,  Haymarket,  blasting,  meadow,  dynamite,  wool, 
Gladstone,  sheep,  protection.  Anarchists. 

Few  lessons  can  or  should  be  arranged  in  this  artificial 
way,  but  the  laws  of  association  as  presented  in  our  psy- 
chologies should  be  studied  and  constantly  applied.  This 
natural  coherence  of  parts  is  one  of  the  indications  of  a 
good  text-book.  Beware  of  the  book  which  presents  a  mass 
of  disconnected  details.  An  observation  of  the  laws  of 
association  in  the  formation  of  the  series  renders  learning 
more  easy  and  more  permanent.  This  is  especially  recom- 
mended for  those  persons  who  have  a  poor  verbal,  or 
mechanical,  memory. 

It  is  often  necessary  to  form  the  series,  even  when  direct 
association  cannot  be  appealed  to,  as  in  the  case  of  arith- 
metical tables.  Time  is  an  important  element  in  fixing 
any  series,  and  especially  those  of  mathematics.  Enough 
time  should  be  given,  so  that  any  member,  rising  into 
consciousness,  will  instantly  and  surely  recall  the  others. 
Thoughtful  and  constant  repetition  is  essential  to  success 
in  learning  a  series  of  disconnected  facts. 

§  24.  Since  knowledge  is  most  easily  gained  and  longest 
retained  by  an  observation  of  the  laws  of  association  in  the 
formation  of  the  series,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it  would  be 
most  unpedagogical  to  make  a  practice  of  destroying  oi 


APPERCEPTION  OF  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.      59 

breaking  up  the  series,  by  the  insertion  of  new,  or  the  sub- 
traction of  old  members. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  the  loss  which  must  occur  in 
instruction,  if,  after  a  series  has  been  laboriously  fixed  in 
the  mind  of  a  child,  so  that  he  is  master  of  it,  the  teacher 
should  proceed  to  undo  his  work  by  breaking  up  the  series. 
Suppose,  for  example,  a  pupil  learns  a  map-lesson  in  geog- 
raphy in  a  given  grade.  This  lesson  forms  a  series  in 
which  each  member  is  related  to  others  of  the  series,  and 
serves  to  call  them  up.  If  now,  upon  going  into  the  next 
grade,  half  a  dozen  new  members  be  inserted  into  the 
former  series,  it  is  plain  that  the  first  series  is  destroyed, 
so  that  the  injected  members  compel  the  learning  of  an 
entirely  new  series.  This  kind  of  procedure  would,  if  sys- 
tematically continued,  result  in  the  constant  formation  and 
destruction  of  series,  and  thus  cause  great  educational 
waste.  If  it  be  found  necessary,  however,  to  insert  new 
matter  into  an  old  series,  this  should  be  understood  by  the 
pupil,  and  the  amended  whole  be  treated  as  a  new  series. 

It  is  possible,  however,  so  to  arrange  instruction  that 
each  new  fact  taught  shall  be  but  an  onward  step  in  the 
development  of  the  subject,  causing  only  an  extension,  and 
not  a  destruction,  of  former  series.  This  is  illustrated  in 
arithmetic,  for  example,  in  the  successive  mastery  of  tables ; 
in  history,  in  the  continuation  of  topics  taught  in  a  more 
elementary  form  in  the  lower  grades ;  in  grammar,  in  the 
more  and  more  elaborate  modification  of  the  principal  ele- 
ments of  the  sentence  by  means  of  words  and  inflections. 
In  geography  it  would  seem  that  names  of  places,  rivers, 
etc.,  should  be  taught  in  a  series  but  once,  and  that  rather 
late  in  school  life.  The  earlier  grades  should  be  learning 
series  which  will  not  need  to  be  destroyed  later  through 
the  introduction  of  new  matter. 


60  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

§  25.  Fixing  Series  in  the  Mind  —  In  order  to  impress 
it  firmly  on  the  mind,  and  to  secare  intimate  fusion,  or 
association  of  its  parts,  the  series  arising  from  each  sub- 
division of  the  lesson  must,  without  undue  haste,  be  re- 
peated often  enough  and  in  enough  different  ways,  so  that 
the  members  will  have  sufficient  time  to  become  firmly 
united  (Ziller). 

Next  to  the  formation  of  the  series  in  instruction  comes 
the  need  of  fixing  it  in  the  mind.  This,  as  we  have  seen, 
needs  time.  It  needs,  also,  a  constant  attention  to  the 
matter  in  hand.  Repetition  gives  the  time,  and  skill  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher  will  secure  the  atte7ition.  Every 
teacher  knows  that  repetition  without  attention  accom- 
plishes little.  One  of  the  chief  purposes  of  device  in 
methods  is  to  secure  the  requisite  attention  for  the  mastery 
of  difficult  series.  Novelty  of  device  is  worthy  of  consid- 
eration, for  what  is  new  claims  the  attention  of  children. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

TRANSITION   FROM  INDIVIDUAL   TO   GENERAL  NOTIONS. 
GENERAL    VIEW. 

§  26.  It  is  a  chief  business  of  education  to  pass  from  dis- 
tinctly perceived  individual  notions  to  clear  general  notions 
(Festalozzi). 

We  have  seen  that  without  individual  notions,  knowledge, 
and  consequently  education,  cannot  begin  ;  and  that  without 
attaining  to  the  general  notion  intelligence  cannot  be 
human.  In  these  two  facts  is  implied  the  truth  of  Pesta- 
lozzi's  saying.  It  is  this  truth  we  try  to  express  in  the 
terms,  education  (educo),  drawing-out  pi'ocess,  mental  power; 
depth  of  insight,  genius,  etc.  Some  have  imagined  the 
drawing-out  process  to  mean  getting  from  the  children  facts 
which  have  been  taught  to  them,  and  in  their  original  form ; 
i.e.,  drawing  out  at  the  faucet  what  has  been  poured  in  at  the 
bung !  If  the  drawing-out  process  means  anything,  it  means 
the  passing  from  the  particular  to  the  general,  the  transi- 
tion, through  reflection,  from  individual  to  general  notions. 
If  pupils  perform  this  transition  but  imperfectly,  however, 
they  become  lost  in  the  individual ;  "  they  cannot,"  as  one 
writer  expresses  it,  "see  the  woods  for  the  trees."  Who 
does  not  know  people  who  are  able  to  take  no  more  than  a 
microscopic  view  of  things  ?  Who  does  not  know  teachers 
that  unceasingly  cram  their  pupils  with  individual  facts,  hav- 
ing but  little  regard  to  their  true  meaning  and  their  relation 

61 


62  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

to  the  significant  general  truth  which  may  be  derived  from 
these  facts,  in  themselves  entirely  insignificant  ? 

Twenty-five  hundred  years  ago,  Socrates  taught  men  in 
the  streets  of  Athens.  He  did  not,  however,  spend  his 
time  in  imparting  new  knowledge.  It  was  not  the  indi- 
vidual horse,  but  the  universal  horse  which  claimed  his 
attention.  He  said  he  was  helping  men  to  give  birth  to 
their  ideas.  Not  ideas  which  they  had,  but  could  not 
express,  but  general  truths  implied  in  their  knowledge, 
which  they  had  not  been  able  to  derive  alone.  The 
Socratic  method,  therefore,  is  but  one  of  the  stages  in  any 
complete  system  of  instruction.  It  seeks  not  to  impart 
new  facts,  nor  to  assist  in  the  assimilation  or  understanding 
of  new  knowledge  through  the  mediation  of  former  knowl- 
edge, but  is  concerned  solely  with  the  derivation  or  abstrac- 
tion of  the  rational  content  potentially  contained  in  any 
given  body  of  facts;  i.e.,  it  tries  to  discover  what  is  the 
general,  or  necessary,  truth  contained  in  any  given  body 
of  individual  notions. 

It  is  further  evident  that  education  must  make  it  a 
special  business  to  teach  the  child  to  pass  easily  and  se- 
curely from  the  individual  to  the  general,  because  the 
generalizations  of  children,  savages,  and  uneducated  or 
poorly  educated  persons  are  very  elementary  and  incom- 
plete. They  do  not  contain  all  the  characteristics  common 
to  a  given  class,  nor  do  they  exclude  all  characteristics 
which  inhere  only  in  certain  individuals.  The  untrained 
thinker  is  content  with  types  chosen  from  among  individu- 
als ;  so  that,  even  in  the  formation  of  general  conceptions 
regarding  things,  the  mind  must  be  trained  to  distinguish 
the  essential  from  the  non-essential.  But  if  this  is  true  in 
things,  how  much  more  must  it  be  true  in  regard  to  a  per- 
ception of  the  necessary  relation  of  things,  and  in  respect 


FROM  INDIVIDUAL   TO  GENERAL  NOTIONS.      63 

to  what  is  essential  and  what  is  non-essential  in  character. 
Any  general,  for  instance,  knows  enough  to  fight  when  he 
is  surrounded  and  attacked,  but  not  every  one  sees,  as  Grant 
did  at  Chattanooga,  how  the  placing  of  a  battery  here,  the 
arrangement  of  troops  there,  the  forward  movement  in  an- 
other place,  will  cause  the  frowning  batteries  to  retreat,  and 
the  heavy  lines  of  the  enemy  to  roll  back  like  clouds  before 
the  sun.  Two  men  may  have  equal  knowledge  of  the  ele- 
mentary forces  in  physics  ;  the  one  sees  the  relation  of  these 
forces,  and  constructs  a  useful  machine,  the  other  allows 
his  knowledge  to  lie  inert  and  fruitless  in  his  mind.  Two 
lawyers  may  have  the  same  knowledge  of  the  facts  in  a 
law  case ;  the  one  sees  the  relation  of  things,  that  is,  sees 
the  general  truth  involved  in  the  particulars,  and  wins  his 
case.  He  sees  the  points ;  the  other  sees  all  but  the  points. 
The  one  has  learned  to  pass,  by  reflection,  from  the  indi- 
vidual to  the  general ;  the  other  has  not. 

The  necessity  of  proceeding  from  the  individual,  through 
reflection,  to  the  general,  as  an  educative  process,  has 
always  been  recognized  by  the  great  thinkers.  "  Percep- 
tions without  conceptions  are  blind,"  says  Kant,  just  as 
"  conceptions  without  perceptions  are  empty."  This  means 
that  intelligence  cannot  stop  with  the  individual,  but 
must  through  its  own  activity  find  the  universal  in  the 
particular. 

Lessing,  in  his  treatise  on  the  fable,  says,  "Why  is 
there  in  all  sciences  such  a  lack  of  discoverers  and  inde- 
pendent thinkers  ?  This  question  is  best  answered  through 
another,  Why  are  we  not  better  educated  ?  God  gives  us 
the  soul,  but  genius,  talent,  ability  we  must  get  through 
education.  A  boy  whose  whole  mental  powers  are,  so  far 
as  possible,  constantly  extended  in  every  direction ;  who  is 
accustomed  rapidly  to  compare  all  that  is  daily  added  to 


64  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

his  store  of  knowledge  with  what  he  knew  yesterday,  in 
order  to  see  if  through  this  comparison  he  does  not  come 
upon  things  which  were  never  told  him  ;  who  is  constantly 
led  out  of  one  science  into  another ;  ivho  is  taught  to  rise 
from  the  particular  to  tJie  general  as  easily  as  to  descend 
from  the  general  to  the  particular  again  ;  —  such  a  hoy  must 
become  a  genius,  or  one  can  become  nothing  in  this  world." 
It  is  our  present  duty  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  this 
process  of  passing  from  the  individual  to  the  general,  in 
order  to  throw  as  much  light  as  possible  on  methods  of 
teaching. 

§  27.  Each  general  notion  necessarily  implies  a  number 
of  individual  notions  to  which  it  relates.  It  is  plain  that 
that  which  is  common  to  two  notions  cannot  be  perceived 
as  common  unless  the  two  notioiis  are  both  in  consciousness 
at  the  same  time.  Simultaneity  is,  therefore,  a  condition 
of  all  mental  association.  There  is,  also,  a  constant  ten- 
dency to  associate  in  some  way  things  present  to  conscious- 
ness at  the  same  time ;  and,  with  untutored  minds,  even  to 
associate  simultaneous  or  successive  events  as  causally  con- 
nected when  no  such  relation  exists.  Thus,  if  certain 
events  are  observed  several  times  to  be  simultaneous  with 
a  given  phase  of  the  moon,  superstitious  people  are  likely 
to  connect  this  phase  of  the  moon  and  the  events  as  cause 
and  effect.  It  is  evident,  at  once,  that  were  there  nothing 
but  the  original  time  connection  of  perceptions  possible, 
our  knowledge  would  be  but  a  chaos  of  accidentally  asso- 
ciated notions,  and  that  any  comprehensive  general  notions 
would  be  impossible. 

§  28.  The  mind  must,  therefore,  be  trained  to  break  up  those 
accidental,  historic  associatio7is,  and  to  form-  new  associations 
which  shall  accord  with  the  true  nature  of  the  notions  asso- 
ciated.    In  other  words,  before  any  general  notion  can  be 


FROM  INDIVIDUAL   TO  GENERAL  NOTIONS.      65 

formed,  memory  must  bring  together  in  consciousness,  a 
number  of  truly  and  logically  related  individual  notions, 
which  were,  perhaps,  historically  separated  in  the  order  of 
their  original  perception. 

§  29.  We  can,  then,  see  likeness  and  difference  in  two 
or  more  notions,  only  when  they  are  simultaneously  in 
consciousness.  It  is  equally  evident  that,  in  order  to  per- 
ceive these  likenesses  or  differences,  comparison  of  the 
various  notions  is  also  necessary.  If,  in  this  comparison 
of  notions,  we  a.ssociate  those  things  which  naturally  and 
of  necessity  belong  together,  we  are  cultivating  thought^  or 
insight;  if,  however,  we  make  arbitrary  and  fanciful  con- 
nections, we  are  cultivating  imagination.  This  discussion 
will  be  confined  to  those  associations  with  which  thought  or 
insight  is  concerned. 

§  30.  Comparison  of  logically  connected  individual 
notions  is,  then,  the  first  step  in  passing  from  the  indi- 
vidual to  the  general.  When  several  related  notions 
present  to  consciousness  are  compared,  it  seems  but  a  step 
of  simple  perception,  perhaps  through  the  judgment  of 
identity  (J  zr  A),  to  see  that  an  element  of  A  is  common 
also  to  B  and  C.  Were  there,  for  instance,  but  three  indi- 
viduals embraced  in  the  extent  of  any  given  general  notion, 
and  these  three  could  all  be  present  to  consciousness  at  the 
same  time,  this  simple  perception  of  common  characteristics 
and  their  synthesis  would  suffice  to  give  rise  to  the  general 
notion  of  these  things.  But  it  can  easily  be  seen  that  any 
newly  perceived  object  must  at  once  be  subsumed  under  a 
class,  even  though  it  be  the  class  thing,  or  animate  thing, 
or  inanimate  thing,  or  animal^  or  vegetable,  or  vertebrate,  or 
invertebrate,  etc. ;  so  that  the  vital  question  is,  How  do 
new  classes  arise  ?  What  is  the  process  through  which  the 
mind  passes  in  arriving  at  universals  ?     This  is   synony- 


66  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

mous  with  the  question,  What  is  the  nature  of  inductio7i  ? 
The  subject  of  induction  has  been  treated  at  length  by 
many  learned  men,  but  it  has  remained  to  Dr.  William  T. 
Harris  to  strip  the  subject  of  its  mistiness,  and  to  present 
it  so  clearly  and  simply  that  any  ordinarily  trained  mind 
can  comprehend  it.^ 

§  31.  To  his  explanation  we  will  now  address  ourselves. 
Intimately  connected  with  the  subject  of  induction  is  that 
of  apperception,  already  discussed  in  a  general  way  in  these 
pages.  We  have  found  apperception  to  be,  as  a  general 
thing,  the  subsumption  of  new  subjects  under  older,  wider, 
and  deeper  predicates.  We  shall  now  find  that  Dr.  flarris 
explains  this  process  more  exactly  and  from  a  different 
standpoint.  His  fundamental  inquiry  is.  What  is  the  rela- 
tion of  the  syllogism,  as  taught  in  logic,  to  apperception  and 
to  the  formation  of  general  notions ;  or,  in  other  words, 
What  is  the  relation  of  the  syllogism  to  apperce2)tion  and 
to  induction  ? 

The  syllogism  consists  of  a  major  and  a  minor  premise 
and  a  conclusion.  The  conclusion  has  a  subject  and  a 
predicate,  called  terms.  The  subject  and  predicate  of  the 
conclusion  appear  also  as  terms  in  the  two  premises.  The 
subject  is  symbolized  by  S,  the  predicate  by  P.  There  is 
also  another  term  appearing  in  the  premises,  which  serves 
to  mediate  between  the  subject  and  predicate  of  tlie  conclu- 
sion, or  to  bring  them  together.  It  is  symbolized  by  the 
letter  M.  We  have  now  three  symbols  of  terms  which 
appear  in  the  syllogisms.  But  these  symbols  may  be  differ- 
ently arranged,  and  according  to  the  three  chief  arrange- 
ments possible,  we  have  what  are  called  the  three  figures 
of  the  syllogism. 

1  niinois  School  Journal,  Nos.  88,  89,  90,  1888-89. 


FROM  INDIVIDUAL   TO  GENERAL  NOTIONS.      67 

FIRST    FIGURE. 

(1)  Mis  P:  Man  is  mortal. 

(2)  S  is  M:  Socrates  is  a  man. 

(3)  Hence,  S  is  P :  Hence,  Socrates  is  mortal. 

Here  the  middle  term  (M)  is  the  subject  of  the  first 
premise  and  the  predicate  of  the  second,  and  unites  the  sub- 
ject and  predicate  of  the  conclusion,  because  it  contains  the 
subject  (Socrates)  and  is  itself  included  under  the  predicate 
(mortal). 

SECOND    FIGURE. 

(1)  S  is  M  :  This  animal  barks. 

(2)  P  is  M:  Dogs  bark. 

(3)  Hence,  S  is  P :  Hence,  this  animal  is  (probably)  a  dog. 

Here  the  middle  term  (M)  is  the  predicate  in  each  pre- 
mise, and  unites  subject  and  predicate  of  the  conclusion, 
because  it  contains  both  subject  (this  animal)  and  predicate 
(dog).  This  figure  is  valid,  or  invariably  true,  only  in  the 
negative.     Thus :  — 

(1)  S  is  M :  This  animal  climbs  trees. 

(2)  No  P  is  ]M  :  No  dog  climbs  trees. 

(3)  Hence,  S  is  not  P :  Hence,  this  animal  is  not  a  dog. 

As  we  shall  see,  however,  apperception  starts  with  the 
second  figure,  even  though  not  valid,  and  fortifies  itself  by 
means  of  the  first. 

THIRD    FIGURE. 

(1)  M  is  S :  All  men  are  animals. 

(2)  M  is  P;  All  men  are  rational. 

(3)  Hence  (some)  S  is  P :  Hence,  some  animals  are  rational. 

Here  the  middle  term  {M)  is  the  subject  of  the  premises, 
and  brings  the  subject  and  predicate  of  the  conclusion 
together,  because  it  is  contained  in  them  both. 


68  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

In  the  case  of  the  apperception  of  objects  perceived 
through  the  senses,  perception  precedes  apperception  ;  that 
is,  the  process  begins  with  particulars,  or  attributes,  and 
hence,  if  any  figu/e  of  the  syllogism  is  implied,  it  must  be 
the  second,  for  in  this  case  the  middle  term  (31)  is  an 
attribute.  To  illustrate  :  Suppose  I  see  a  moving  object  in 
high  grass.  It  looks  like  a  tail  curled  over  a  back.  The 
mind  would  act  as  follows  :  — 

(1)  That  is  a  tail  curled  over  a  back. 

(2)  Dogs  curl  their  tails  over  their  backs. 

(3)  Hence,  this  object  is  (probably)  a  dog. 

or,  according  to  the  formula  of  the  second  figure, 

(1)  S  is  M. 

(2)  P  is  M. 

(3)  Hence,  S  is  P  (probably) . 

Accordingly,  the  first  stage  of  apperception  is  taken  by 
means  of  the  second  figure.  But  I  wish  to  be  sure,  and  I 
now  proceed  to  test  the  correctness  of  my  conclusion  by 
the  first  figure  of  the  syllogism,  and  I  think 

(1)  Certain  characteristics,  such  as  ears  of  a  general  t3^pe, 
four  legs,  a  peculiar  general  shape,  etc.,  belong  to  all  dogs. 

(2)  This  object  has  these  characteristics. 

(3)  Hence,  this  animal  is  a  dog. 

or,  according  to  the  formula  of  the  first  figure, 

(1)  M  is  P. 

(2)  S  is  M. 

(3)  Hence,  S  is  P. 

Proceeding  further  with  the  identification,  I  think 

(1)  My  dog,  Don,  has  one  black  ear,  a  white  body,  a  slight 
limp  in  one  hind  leg,  etc. 

(2)  This  dog  has  these  characteristics. 

(3)  Hence,  it  is  Don. 


FROM  INDIVIDUAL   TO  GENERAL  NOTIONS.       69 

When  the  process  of  apperception  is  analyzed,  we  find 
that  it  begins  with  a  tentative  identification  of  the  new 
object  of  perception  with  some  well-known  object,  through 
the  mediation  of  the  second  figure  of  the  syllogism;  and 
that  this  first  identification  is  verified  or  rejected  by  means 
of  the  first  figure.  Of  course,  it  is  not  meant  here,  that 
children  or  even  adults  consciously  use  these  syllogistic 
figures,  but  only  that  this  is  the  natural  movement  of  the 
mind  in  apperception. 

We  come  now  to  the  question,  How  do  general  notions 
arise  ?  or,  in  other  words.  What  is  the  process  of  mind  in 
induction  ? 

When  the  third  figure  is  examined,  it  is  apparent  that  it 
can  be  used  only  after  the  first  two,  for  their  action  is  pre- 
supposed in  b'oth  major  and  minor  premise.  To  say,  all 
men  are  animals  (j\I  is  *S^),  is  to  recognize  the  subject 
(animals)  in  the  middle  term  (all  men).  But  this  is  the 
process  of  identifying,  as  explained  through  the  second  and 
the  first  figures.  The  same  is  true  when  we  say,  all  men 
are  rational  (iWis  P).  Thus,  in  the  third  figure,  there  are 
two  identifications,  both  involving  the  second  and  the  first 
figures  of  the  syllogism. 

The  third  figure,  as  we  have  seen,  is 

(1)  M  is  S. 

(2)  i\r  is  P. 

(3)  Hence,  S  is  P. 

To  see  how  this  syllogism  acts  in  giving  us  a  new  class, 
let  us  suppose  that  we  are  familiar  with  the  common  work- 
horse only.  Now  we  see  a  very  large  dapple-gray  animal, 
which  by  the  other  figures  we  find  to  be  a  horse.  The 
following  results :  — 

(1)  M  is  S :  This  object  is  a  horse. 


70  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

By  a  second  identification,  we  have  the  second  premise, 

(2)  ]M  is  P :  This  object  is  very  large,  is  dapple-gray,  etc. 
(8)  Hence,  some  horses  are  very  large  dapple-grays  (or  other 
colors) . 

We  will  call  them  Norman  horses.  We  have  now  from  a 
single  observation  the  basis  of  a  new  class.  If  no  more  obser- 
vations are  made,  this  basis  will  remain  only  a  potential 
class,  —  it  will  not  become  actual.  But  should  repeated 
observation  give  us  new  objects  which  can  be  identified  as 
belonging  with  the  object  first  observed,  a  well-defined  class 
will  arise. 

An  important  question  now  arises :  What  sort  of  charac- 
teristics shall  be  chosen  for  the  formation  of  new  classes  ? 
Should  a  number  of  miscellaneous  articles  be  placed  before 
a  child  for  classification,  accidental  and  non-essential  charac- 
teristics might  be  chosen  as  a  basis,  rather  than  more  essen- 
tial ones.  Scientific  classification  always  seeks  a  vital  or 
causal  basis,  while  persons  in  immature  stages  of  thought 
are  content  to  classify  according  to  characteristics  which 
appeal  most  strongly  to  the  senses.  We  may,  therefore, 
distinguish  two  bases  for  new  classes.:  (1)  external,  obtru- 
sive characteristics ;  and  (2)  vital,  or  necessary  (causal), 
characteristics.  In  the  classification  of  animals,  external 
marks  of  color,  shape,  size,  presence  or  absence  of  append- 
ages, may  be  used  as  the  basis ;  but  the  naturalist  looks 
deeper  and  classifies  in  accordance  with  characteristics 
which  seem  necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  animal;  as, 
e.g.,  the  various  organs  for  obtaining,  masticating,  and 
digesting  food.  For  instance,  a  certain  kind  of  animals, 
say,  ruminants,  might  be  loosely  classified  according  to  their 
horns  or  their  hoofs,  but  a  classification  based  upon  the 
number  and  kind  of  teeth  would  be  subject  to  far  less  varia- 


FROM  TNDIVTDUAL   TO  GENERAL   NOTIONS.       71 

tion  ;  for  tlie  teeth  bear  a  much  more  intimate  relation  to 
the  existence  of  the  animal  than  do  either  horns  or  hoofs. 
The  mind  approaches  scientific  classification  through  many 
stages  of  convenient  though  loose  classification,  so  that  it 
becomes  a  great  problem  in  education  to  know  at  any  given 
stage  of  the  child's  mind  just  what  degree  of  abstraction  it 
is  capable  of  attaining  in  each  study. 

Note.  —  The  habit  of  generalizing  upon  insufficient  data  is  a  most 
common  one,  and  is  often  indulged  in,  even  by  well-educated  people, 
if  they  happen  to  make  observations  in  an  unfamiliar  field.  The  fol- 
lowing incident  will  illustrate  this  point.  An  American  professor  was 
traveling  in  Germany,  and  being  a  little  late,  one  summer  day,  had 
to  run  in  order  to  catch  his  train.  This,  of  course,  started  the  perspira- 
tion, and,  fearing  he  might  take  cold,  the  professor  drew  on  his  over- 
coat when  he  reached  the  car.  A  German  had  been  an  interested 
observer  of  the  incident,  and  learning  soon  after  that  the  professor 
was  an  American,  he  took  out  his  notebook,  and  wrote  as  follows  : 
*'  Americans  put  on  their  overcoats  when  they  get  warm."  The  pro- 
fessor, who  had  begun  to  chat  with  the  German,  noted  the  action,  and 
suspecting  something  of  its  purport,  asked  the  German  what  he  had 
written.  Upon  being  told,  the  professor  laughed,  but  made  no  com- 
ment in  remonstrance.  Soon  after,  the  conductor  came  along,  and 
being  an  acquaintance  of  the  German,  stopped  to  chat  with  him,  and 
finally  offered  him  a  cigar.  The  German  replied  that  he  did  not 
smoke,  but  liked  to  have  something  in  his  mouth,  and  that  conse- 
quently he  usually  held  his  lead-pencil  there.  Upon  hearing  this,  the 
professor  drew  out  his  notebook  hastily,  and  made  this  entry  :  "Ger- 
mans do  not  smoke  cigars,  they  smoke  lead-pencils."  The  German, 
of  course,  saw  the  action,  and  inquired  its  purport.  Upon  seeing  the 
entry,  he  laughed,  and  proposed  that  both  of  them  should  revise  their 
generalizations. 

§  32.  As  we  have  seen,  the  general  notion  in  the 
restricted  sense  is  symbolized  by  the  norm.  Nouns  are, 
therefore,  in  themselves  abstract  terms.  It  is  easy  to  under- 
stand why  the  education  which  was  based  upon  the  wo7^d 


72  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

alone  should  become  meaningless  and  formal,  and  we  do 
not  wonder  that  Pestalozzi  revolted  against  it.  He  insisted 
that,  instead  of  presupposing  such  an  acquaintance  with 
nature,  and  such  an  experience  in  general  as  would  give  a 
meaning  to  these  abstract  terms,  tlie  educator  should  pjroceed 
to  give  the  child  an  experience  of  the  individual,  so  far  as  he 
does  not  possess  it,  and  then  lead  him  by  his  own  thinking 
to  the  general  notion,  which  is  symbolized  by  the  noun,  or 
expressed  in  definitions,  rules,  maxims,  etc.  In  this  way 
the  word  becomes  a  living  force,  instead  of  a  dead  form. 
Hence  arose  the  motto.  First  the  idea,  then  the  word. 
This  motto,  if  properly  understood,  is  true  and  valuable, 
but  may  be  easily  misinterpreted.  It  is  evident  that,  with 
little  children,  for  instance,  the  motto  cannot  mean  that  the 
idea,  or  general  notion  as  it  really  is,  must  be  developed  in 
its  logical  completeness  so  far  as  extent  and  characteristics 
are  concerned.  If  this  were  so,  the  child  should  never 
have  the  word  cat  given  to  it  until  it  had  mastered  a 
zoological  system ;  nor  could  it  acquire  the  word  line  until 
able  to  master  the  metaphysical  conception  of  extension  in 
length,  but  without  breadth  or  thickness,  and  until  an  ex- 
perience of  lines  of  all  sorts,  straight,  curved,  and  broken, 
had  enabled  it  to  arrive  at  a  true  logical  conception  of  the 
line. 

At  first,  the  word,  though  itself  abstract,  is  to  the  child  a 
sign  of  an  individual  object ;  and,  hence,  at  this  stage,  to 
give  the  idea  before  the  word  is  to  show  the  individual  ob- 
ject. Later,  the  word  becomes  a  symbol  for  some  notion 
not  definitely  limited  in  extent  and  content,  which  serves 
as  a  type.  This  notion  is  often  an  indistinct  image,  only 
the  main  characteristics  being  emphasized ;  it  is  well  illus- 
trated in  composite  photography.  In  this  stage,  to  give 
the  idea  before  the  word  would  be  to  develop  a  logically 


FROM  INDIVIDUAL    TO   GENERAL   NOTIONS.       73 

imperfect  general  notion  from  the  particulars  wliich  may 
be  at  hand.  In  the  third  stage,  the  word  is  a  sign  of  a 
scientifically  complete  general  notion,  as  the  word  tj'ee  was 
to  Professor  Gray,  or  as  the  word  I  hie  is  to  the  mathema- 
tician. To  give  the  idea  before  the  word  here  would  be  to 
gain  the  ends  of  all  knowledge  before  learning  the  common- 
est words  of  childhood.  Long  before  this  stage  is  reached, 
the  word  has  been  learned,  and  comes  to  the  teacher  as 
one  of  his  greatest  aids.  Scientifically,  to  give  the  idea 
before  the  word,  means  nothing  more  than  to  proceed 
according  to  the  law  of  apperception;  i.e.,  to  see  that  a 
predicate,  greater  in  extent  and  content  than  the  subject, 
can  be  applied  by  the  child.  If  the  predicate  is  only  a 
little  broader  than  the  subject,  there  will  be  some  appre- 
hension of  the  new  idea.  The  more  complete  the  predicates 
are,  the  more  complete  the  apperception  will  be. 

§  33.  If  the  present  view  is  correct,  there  must  he  con- 
stant progress  from  the  individual  to  the  general  at  all  stages 
of  school  life.  There  must  also  be  a  constant  progress  in 
the  character  of  the  general,  from  those  primary  stages 
when  types  more  or  less  individual  in  character  represent 
the  universal,  and  when  accidental  characteristics  form  the 
basis  of  classification,  up  to  the  complete,  scientifically 
perfect  general  notion,  which  is  the  ripe  final  product  of 
properly  conducted  education.  To  discover  these  various 
stages  towards  logical  completeness  in  the  general  notion  for 
all  ages  of  childhood  and  youth ,  and  in  all  school  studies, 
would  he  to  solve  one  of  our  most  important  pedagogical 
prohlems.  So  far  as  the  child  is  concerned,  this  Avould 
imply  a  power  on  the  teacher's  part  to  discover  at  all  stages 
the,  limit  of  the  child's  power  to  generalize ;  or,  in  other 
words,  to  unify  common  characteristics  in  whatever  realm 
of  school  study;  to  make  valid  generalizations.     Too  many 


74  th:b:  essentials  of  method. 

of  our  authors  talk  as  if  there  were  a  long  period  of  the 
child's  life  in  which  he  can  do  little  but  observe,  when  the 
perceptive  powers  absorb  the  whole  energy  of  the  mind ; 
and  that,  consequently,  the  sole  duty  of  the  teacher  is  to 
cram  the  mind  with  facts,  making  little  or  no  effort,  con- 
scious or  unconscious,  to  enable  the  child  to  see  the  univer- 
sal which  underlies  the  particular.  This  is  certainly  an 
erroneous  and  injurious  view. 

That  what  has  thus  far  been  said  is  in  full  accord  with 
the  true  spirit  of  the  reform  inaugurated  by  Pestalozzi,  may 
be  seen  from  the  following  quotation :  "  When  I  considered 
the  whole  of  instruction,  or,  rather,  instruction  as  a  whole 
and  in  connection  with  the  actual  condition  of  the  masses 
of  children  who  are  to  be  instructed,  I  could  not  conceal 
from  myself  that  the  school  instruction,  as  I  actually  saw 
it,  was  wholly  unfit  for  the  great  public  and  the  lower 
classes.  The  feeling  began,  day  by  day,  to  develop  in  me 
that  it  was  essentially  impossible  permanently  to  remove 
the  great  mass  of  school  evils,  unless  teachers  could  arrive 
at  the  point  when  the jj  could  subordinate  the  mechanical  form 
of  all  instruction  to  the  eternal  laivs,  loherehy  the  human 
sjnrit  rises  from  sense  perceptions  to  clear  general 
CONCEPTIONS  (general  notions).  In  those  laws  I  thought 
surely  to  find  the  thread  out  of  which  to  weave  a  universal 
psychological  method  of  instruction. 

"  (1)  Learn,  therefore,  to  arrange  thy  perceptions,  and  to 
complete  the  simple  before  proceeding  to  the  complex. 

"  (2)  Further,  bring  together  in  thy  mind  all  those  things 
which  essentially  belong  together,  in  the  same  connection 
in  which  they  are  actually  found  in  nature. 

"  (3)  Strengthen  and  intensify  thy  impressions  of  impor- 
tant objects,  by  bringing  them  nearer  through  art,  and  by 
making  them  act  upon  thee  through  the  different  senses. 


FHOM  INDIVIDUAL    TO  GENERAL  NOTIONS.        75 

"  (4)  Kegard  all  the  effects  of  physical  nature  as  absolutely 
necessary,  and  recognize  in  this  necessity  the  result  of 
the  power  with  which  they  unify  their  apparently  hetero- 
geneous elements  to  the  realization  of  their  purpose ;  and 
let  the  art  with  which  thou,  through  instruction,  workest 
upon  thy  race,  as  well  as  the  results  which  it  effects,  be 
elevated  to  a  like  physical  necessity,  so  that  in  all  of  thy 
doing,  all  means,  however  heterogeneous  in  appearance, 
work  together  for  the  accomplishment  of  their  great  pur- 
pose." 

This,  then,  is  the  great  merit  of  Pestalozzi,  that  whereas 
the  men  of  his  time  began  instruction  with  the  abstract, 
with  words  whose  content  was  unknown  to  the  children,  he 
began  with  the  individual  things,  from  which  alone  the 
abstractions  could  gain  any  significance  in  the  minds  of 
the  pupils.  Instead  of  presupposing  an  experience,  he 
supplied  one.  Instruction  is  ever  swinging  between  two 
extremes,  under hed  generals,  and  ungeneralized  particulars. 
Undue  conservatism  tends  to  the  former,  and  unthinking 
radicalism  to  the  latter.  Pestalozzi  struck  the  golden 
mean,  when  he  said,  the  mind  must  ever  rise  from  clear 
individual  to  distinct  general  notions. 

SPECIFIC   CONSIDERATIONS. 

§  34.  In  our  analysis  of  the  nature  of  abstraction,  or  the 
passing  from  individual  to  general  truth,  we  found  that  it 
arises,  in  general,  through  the  comparison  of  related  indi- 
vidual notions,  and  a  positing,  through  induction,  of  the 
universality  of  the  perceived  common  characteristics.  It 
will  now  be  helpful  to  distinguish  between  mathematical 
and  non-mathematical  generalizations,  since  the  two  are 
quite  unlike. 

§  35.     Men  never  cease  to  dispute  about  the  significance 


76  J  HE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

of  historical  or  social  or  economic  facts,  so  that  new  gener- 
alizations are  constantly  formulated  concerning  them ;  but 
when  once  the  conditions  of  a  mathematical  problem  are 
understood,  there  can  be  no  further  controversy.  The 
generalizations  of  mathematics  appeal  to  the  mind  as 
universally  and  necessarily  true,  as  soon  as  they  are  per- 
ceived. In  the  idea  straightness  is  not  necessarily  involved 
the  idea  shortness,  but  the  mind  has  only  to  think  a  straight 
line  between  two  points  to  perceive  that  this  line  measures 
the  shortest  distance  between  them.  If  it  be  desired  to 
deduce  a  rule  for  multiplying  a  fraction  by  an  integer,  a 
single  problem  will  suffice  as  well  as  a  thousand  to  bring 
the  mind  to  a  knowledge  of  the  law  and  a  belief  in  its 
universality.  Suppose  the  illustrative  problem  to  be,  multi- 
ply f  by  2.  Let  two  pieces  of  paper  having  the  same  shape 
and  size  be  taken  and  folded  into  fourths.  Tear  off  \  from 
each.  What  now  remains  of  each  is  f .  If,  now,  the  nature 
of  multiplication  is  already  understood,  which  must  be  pre- 
supposed, the  child  will  see  that  2  times  f ,  or  2  3's  of  4ths, 
equals  the  value  of  the  two  remaining  pieces  of  paper,  or 
6  fourths ;  i.e.,  the  number  of  parts  has  been  doubled, 
their  size  remaining  the  same,  and  hence  the  value  of  the 
fraction  has  been  doubled  by  multiplying  the  numerator 
by  2.  In  general,  multiplying  the  numerator  of  a  fraction 
multiplies  the  value  of  the  fraction,  because  it  niultiplies  the 
uumber  of  pa7^ts,  leavijig  their  size  the  same.  Again,  take 
the  two  pieces  of  paper,  each  containing  |  of  the  original 
paper,  and  arrange  the  6  fourths  into  groups  of  two  each. 
We  find  that  there  are  three  of  them ;  but  two  fourths 
equal  one  half,  hence  f  x  2  =  -I,  or  this  fraction  is  multi- 
plied by  2  by  dividing  its  denominator  by  2,  for  though 
the  number  of  parts  is  the  same,  their  size  has  been 
doubled.     In  general,  dividifig  the  denomifiator  of  a  fraction 


FROM  INDIVIDUAL   TO   GENERAL  NOTIONS.       77 

multiplies  the  value  of  the  fractio7i,  since  it  multiplies  the 
size  of  the  parts,  leaving  their  number  the  same. 

So  of  any  mathematical  truth,  if  it  is  once  brought  clearly 
to  consciousness,  its  universality  is  at  once  felt.  Is  it  not 
a  sin  that  pupils  should  be  taught  arithmetic  for  years, 
without  ever  having  been  made  conscious  of  the  necessary 
validity  of  the  rules  and  principles  they  constantly  use  ? 
Daily  experience  shows  that  pupils  may  finish  arithmetic 
in  the  high  school  without  having  grasped  the  true  mean- 
ing of  even  so  simple  a  process  as  subtraction.  Thus,  if  a 
pupil  liolds  8  sticks  in  one  hand  and  3  in  the  other,  he 
will  usually  stand  in  confusion,  if  asked  to  show  with  the 
objects  how  many  more  there  are  in  one  hand  than  in  the 
other.  It  is  not  necessary  to  wait  until  the  pupil  can  per- 
form algebraic  and  geometric  demonstrations  of  general 
mathematical  truths  before  giving  him  any  insight  into 
them ;  but  this  should  be  done  through  the  presentation  of 
one  or  more  individual  illustrations,  when  there  is  first 
need  of  using  the  generalization. 

§  36.  Next  to  mathematical  general  conceptions  come 
those  having  to  do  with  external  nature.  With  mathemat- 
ics all  is  exact  and  limited ;  with  nature,  on  the  contrary, 
inexactness  and  uncertain  extension  prevail.  The  notion 
triangle  may  easily  be  defined  with  exactness ;  not  so  the 
notion  horse.  But  here  as  everywhere,  we  must  begin  with 
the  known  individual.  In  natural  history,  individual  ob- 
jects must  be  carefully  compared,  their  likenesses  and 
differences  noted,  the  accidental  distinguished  from  the 
apparently  essential,  in  order  that  the  general  notions  may 
gain  as  much  clearness  and  universality  as  the  age  and 
ability  of  the  pupils  permit.  So  in  geography  a  child's 
conception  of  a  mountain,  a  river,  a  lake,  an  ocean,  should 
be  based  upon  what  he  has  seen,  first  in  nature  about  him, 


78  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

and  then  in  pictorial  representations.  In  physics,  experi- 
ment should  lead  to  the  development  of  physical  laws. 
Here  we  have,  as  in  mathematics,  an  a  priori  element;  i.e., 
the  necessary  belief  of  the  mind  in  the  uniformity  of  causa- 
tion. Like  causes  always  produce  like  effects,  provided  the 
conditions  do  not  vary.  If,  therefore,  the  principle  of 
the  siphon  is  grasped  in  an  individual  case,  it  will  be 
understood  in  any  other  like  case. 

§  37.  To  develop  true  general  notions  concerning  politi- 
cal or  social  or  ethical  affairs  is  far  more  difficult  than  to 
do  so  in  the  realms  of  mathematics  and  the  physical  uni- 
verse ;  first,  because  the  senses  cannot  be  appealed  to, 
and,  second,  because  of  the  infinitely  more  complex  and 
entangling  conditions.  Compare  such  notions  as  state,  na- 
tionality/, society/,  justice,  legal  right,  moral  good,  with  those 
of  triangle,  division  of  a  fraction,  mountain,  lever.  The  com- 
plexity of  the  former  is  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  relative 
simplicity  of  the  latter.  Instruction  must,  however,  return 
as  ever  to  the  individual  embodiments  of  these  ideas ;  for 
it  is  the  universal  law  of  all  correct  instruction  that  the 
general  must  be  preceded  by  the  particular,  for  there  is  no 
other  way  in  which  it  can  be  understood.  By  this  state- 
ment is  not  meant  that  pedagogical  device  is  limited  to  one 
procedure.  It  may  be  that  a  mind  can  best  be  aroused  by 
having  some  startling  generalization  hurled  at  it,  which, 
however,  can  only  be  understood  through  much  particulari- 
zation.  Many  good  text-books  introduce  a  topic  by  stating 
some  broad  general  truth  or  law  concerning  itj-  but  no  good 
text-book  assumes  that  the  statement  of  a  wide-reaching 
law  is  sufficient  to  explain  and  establish  it.  For  example, 
Avery's  "  Elements  of  Natural  Philosophy "  begins  al- 
most every  topic  with  a  definition,  which  is  the  expression 
of  a  general  notion.     Thus,  at  the  head  of  the  chapter  on 


FBOM  INDIVIDUAL   TO  GENERAL  NOTIONS.       79 

machines  is  this :  "  What  is  a  Machine  ?  A  machine  is  a 
contrivance  by  means  of  which  the  power  can  be  applied  to 
the  resistance  more  advantageously.''^  Then  follows  a  dis- 
cussion of  what  is  contained  in  this  definition. ' 

It  matters  not,  therefore,  whether  one's  general  course  is 
inductive  or  deductive ;  this  will  depend  largely  upon  the 
subject,  and  the  mental  maturity  of  those  who  are  to  pursue 
it.  But  one  thing  is  sure,  there  will  never  be  any  clear 
grasping  of  the  significance  of  a  general  conception,  until 
it  has  been  tested  at  least,  by  individuals  which  are  ranged 
under  it. 
1^  For  the  reason,  then,  that  we  first  grasp  the  general 
through  the  particular,  all  ethical  instruction  should  pro- 
ceed from  individual  cases  of  action  involving  a  moral  con- 
tent. Hence,  it  does  not  suffice  to  preach  in  school,  except 
from  the  text  of  an  actual  event.  Children  can  best  get 
the  first  points  of  crystallization  for  moral  truths  from 
stories  involving  a  moral  content.  Here  the  emotions  are 
not  unduly  aroused,  as  they  are  likely  to  be  where  the 
action  is  one  that  touches  them  personally,  so  that  the 
irrational  nature  of  wrong  action  appeals  to  the  under- 
standing as  well  as  to  feeling.  History  fulfills  its  noblest 
mission  to  the  race  on  account  of  its  ethical  content  and  of 
the  individual  nature  of  the  presentation.  Every  deed  of 
heroism,  of  benevolence,  of  charity,  of  patriotism,  is  a  con- 
crete embodiment  of  a  precious  virtue ;  while  every  mean, 
cowardly,  dastardly  act  is  an  individual  protest  against 
meanness,  cowardice,  or  villainy.  We  can  only  continue 
the  deposit  about  these  starting  points,  until  at  last  the 
soul  is  strong  in  itself  to  stand  against  temptation. 

§  38.  Most  difficult  of  all  is  the  formation  of  true 
general  conceptions^  in  the  realm  of  aesthetic  and  religious 
truth.     Here,  again,  we  can  but  lay  the  beginnings  of  cor- 


80  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

rect  ideas,  and,  as  before,  only  by  starting  with  individual 
illustrations.  Call  attention  to  the  beauty  in  the  flower, 
the  tree,  the  bird,  the  landscape,  the  heavens.  Awaken 
the  first  love  of  the  beautiful  in  art  by  contrasting  grace 
and  beauty  with  ungainliness  and  ugliness.  Teach  rever- 
ence for  age,  for  authority,  for  law,  for  the  name  of  God. 
Awaken  the  feelings  of  love  and  thankfulness,  in  return 
for  love  and  benefits. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  RETURN  FROM  GENERAL   TO  INDIVIDUAL   NOTIONS. 

§  39.  We  have  thus  far  considered  two  grand  stages  of 
rational  methodology ;  viz.,  the  apperception,  or  assimilation 
of  individual  notions  (preparation  and  presentation),  and 
the  transition  from  individual  to  general  notions.  One 
more  equally  important  stage  remains.  This  is  the  return 
from  general  to  individual  notions,  or  the  application  of 
derived  universals  to  new  particulars.  Says  Lange  ( Ueber 
Appercejjtion,  p.  129),  "We  have  fallen  from  one  extreme 
to  the  other :  whereas,  formerly  a  hard  and  lifeless  instruc- 
tion laid  the  chief  emphasis  upon  the  memorizing  of  the 
text,  it  is  the  custom  o*f  our  times  largely  to  neglect  the 
application  of  that  which  is  learned;  consequently,  the 
ever-repeated  complaint,  that  though  our  youth  indeed 
know  a  great  deal,  they  can  do  but  little,  that  they  possess 
indeed  knowledge,  but  little  capacity  and  readiness  to  act, 
and  that  upon  leaving  school,  the  knowledge  largely  dis- 
appears. Where  drill  and  application  are  lacking,  where  a 
line  of  thought  is  developed,  but  in  complete  isolation  from 
related  thought,  the  capacity  of  applying  this  knowledge 
to  its  natural  and  appropriate  field  is  soon  lost,  no  matter 
how  clear  the  original  thought  may  have  been."  Pestalozzi 
goes  even  so  far  as  to  say  ("  How  Gertrude,"  etc.,  XII.),  "It 
is  perhaps  the  most  frightful  gift  which  an  evil  genius  makes 
to  his  age :  knowledge  without  capacity  to  do." 

Why  this  stage  of  right  method  is  so  necessary    and 

81 


82  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

what  are  its  essential  features,  will  appear  in  tlie  following 
sections. 

§  40.  Kant  stated  a  profound  and  many-sided  truth 
when  he  said  that  notions  without  perceptions  are  blind, 
that  they  are  mere  empty  forms.  The  man  whose  whole 
knowledge  consists  of  abstractions  has  indeed  a  barren 
mind.  He  is  able  to  deal  in  nothing  but  glittering  gener- 
alities, so  that  his  thinking  pertains  but  slightly  to  the 
practical  affairs  of  the  world,  in  which  alone  man's  destiny 
can  be  wrought  out.  Nor  should  we  imagine  that  such 
thought  marks  more  than  an  elementary  stage  of  mind. 
Philology  shows  that  language  did  not  begin  with  the  con- 
crete and  gradually  extend  to  the  abstract,  but  that  it  began 
with  the  vague,  the  general,  the  indefinite;  as,  with  the 
verb,  which  represents  no  thing,  but  an  action  or  a  state, 
and  with  the  pronoun  as  a  verb-suffix,  not  indeed  to  repre- 
sent a  noun,  but  to  manifest  a  relation  between  the  speaker 
and  the  object  of  thought. 

There  must  he  a  rich  content  of  knowledge,  as  well  as  the 
generalizations  derived  from  a  few  pay'ticulars.  This  can 
be  obtained  only  by  long  and  persistent  application  of 
abstractions  —  a  rule  in  arithmetic  or  grammar,  for  in- 
stance—  to  appropriate  fields  of  new  particulars.  It  will 
not  suffice  to  limit  the  study  of  differentiation  to  the  indi- 
vidual notions  from  which  the  general  was  derived.  Should 
a  botanist  know  only  the  common  characteristics  of  trees, 
the  sight  of  a  given  tree  could  arouse  no  such  wealth  of 
conception  as  is  supposed  in  the  case  quoted  from  Dr. 
Harris.  Should  he  know  only  the  individual  characteris- 
tics of  one  tree,  his  experience  of  trees  would  still  be 
meager  and  barren.  If,  then,  knowledge  is  to  have  a  full, 
rich  content,  as  well  as  universality,  the  general  truth 
gained  must  be  perpetually  enriched  and  re-enforced  by 
application  to  new  particulars. 


FROM  GENERAL   TO  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.       83 

§  41.  There  is  need  of  a  wide  and  persistent  application 
of  general  truths,  in  order  that  they  may  become  a  perma- 
nent acquisition  to  the  child.  A  principle  in  arithmetic, 
for  example,  even  though  fairly  grasped  by  the  pupil,  will 
soon  fade  from  his  mind  if  extended  application  has  not 
impressed  it  there.  The  need  of  doing  this  has  usually 
been  better  recognized  in  arithmetic  than  in  any  other 
department  of  common  school  study.  The  fault  of  thought- 
less teaching  in  this  branch  has  heretofore  been,  not  so 
much  a  lack  of  application,  as  failure  to  teach  the  pupils 
to  see  the  universality  of  the  rules  and  principles  which  they 
were  using.  The  fact  that  the  pupils  are  commonly  drilled 
for  a  long  time  in  the  application  of  arithmetical  rules, 
accounts  in  some  measure  for  the  lasting  interest  which 
teachers  are  able  to  awaken  in  this  subject. 

That  pupils  remember  these  rules  well  is,  therefore,  not 
surprising,  for  in  this  branch  they  are  better  drilled  in  the 
application  of  principles  than  in  any  other.  If  this  efficient 
drill  upon  new  problems  could  be  preceded  by  a  derivation 
of  general  principles  from  particular  cases,  our  instruction 
in  this  branch  would  be  ideally  correct.  Furthermore,  not 
only  do  pupils  soon  forget  an  unapplied  generalization,  but 
they  can  make  it  truly  serviceable  only  by  constant  use. 
Practice  makes  perfect. 

?  42.  It  is  needful  to  practice  a  wide  application  of 
general  truths,  on  account  of  the  bearing  of  such  practice 
upon  all  the  affairs  of  life.  The  mind  must  be  trained  to 
distinguish  the  essential  from  the  non-essential,  the  valid 
from  the  accidental  or  false,  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. Man  is  constantly  required  to  decide  impor- 
tant questions  which  are  complicated  by  details.  The 
judge  upon  thie  bench  must  see  the  truth  through  a  mass  of 
conflicting  testimony;    the   counsel   before   the   bar   must 


84  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

detect  the  weak  points  in  liis  opponent's  case,  however 
covered  by  misleading  evidence  or  argument ;  the  teacher 
must  be  able  to  see  the  most  effective  means  of  governing 
his  school,  or  discover  the  straightest  path  to  the  pupil's 
understanding;  the  voter  should  be  able  to  judge  intelli- 
gently of  the  probable  effect  of  any  proposed  political 
measure,  however  confusing  and  contradictory  the  argu- 
ments of  politicians  may  be ;  the  merchant,  the  manufac- 
turer, and  especially  the  speculator,  needs  the  ability  to 
weigh  calmly  the  great  factors,  supply  and  demand,  and  com- 
petition, in  the  face  of  confusing  but  non-determining  con- 
ditions. So  in  all  departments  of  life,  social,  political, 
economical,  the  successful  man,  be  he  farmer  or  warrior, 
merchant  or  teacher,  is  the  one  whose  training  enables  him 
under  all  circumstances  to  recognize  the  important  and 
enduring,  however  much  they  may  be  complicated  with  the 
accidental  and  non-essential.  Such  insight  is  not  gained 
by  the  learning  of  individual  facts,  or  by  the  memorizing 
of  universal  truths,  but  only  by  a  constant,  efficient  applica- 
tion to  a  wide  field  of  particulars,  of  general  laws  which 
have  been  consciously  derived  from  individual  cases. 

§  43.  Again,  this  perpetual  return  from  the  general  to 
the  particular  is  the  most  effective  means  for  the  co-ordina- 
tion of  knowledge.  It  is  too  much  the  tendency  of  the 
schools  to  impart  knowledge  in  parallel  lines  having  little 
or  no  vital  connection.  For  example,  the  studies  whose 
common  end  is  knowledge  of  the  mother-tongue,  such  as 
reading,  writing,  spelling,  composition,  punctuation,  gram- 
mar, rhetoric,  are  usually  taught  as  separate  and  unrelated 
branches  of  learning.  When  related  studies  are  taught  in 
this  way,  there  must  necessarily  be  great  waste  in  the 
labor  of  learning,  and  great  deficiency  in  the  ready  use  of 
what  is  learned.     To  a  greater  or  less  degree,  all  knowledge 


FROM  GENERAL   TO  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.       85 

is  related,  all  wisdom  has  a  bearing  upon  every  great  enter- 
prise of  life.  To  bring  the  mind  to  the  consciousness  of 
this  unity  of  knowledge  is  one  of  the  great  functions  of  the 
school.  The  world  is  not  so  much  surprised  as  grieved, 
however,  when  moral  maxims  appear  to  have  little  bearing 
on  conduct,  when  the  forms  of  religion  lack  the  content  of 
daily  right  living,  when  book-crammed  brains  cannot  reduce 
their  memorized  theories  to  concrete  practice.  The  most 
effective  means  for  this  desirable  co-ordination  of  the  knowl- 
edge at  the  pupil's  command,  aside  from  radical  changes  in 
the  manner  of  presenting  studies,  is  the  thorough-going 
application  of  those  generalizations  at  which  the  pupil  has 
arrived,  to  all  fields  of  'particulars  lying  within  his  compass 
of  thought. 

§  44.  With  the  foregoing  exposition  of  the  necessary 
stages  of  all  right  methods  in  mind,  it  is  not  difficult  to 
discover  where  the  prevailing  treatment  of  various  school 
studies  has  departed  from  correct  pedagogical  practice. 
The  trinity  of  instruction  embraces :  (1)  the  apperception 
or  assimilation  of  individual  notions ;  (2)  the  transition 
from  the  individual  to  the  general  (classes,  rules,  principles, 
maxims,  etc.)  ;  (3)  the  return  from  the  general  notion  to 
new  fields  of  particulars.  As  we  have  seen,  the  fault  in 
arithmetical  instruction  has  been,  not  a  lack  of  application, 
but  a  failure  consciously  to  take  the  second  step ;  viz.,  to 
make  the  transition  from  given  individual  numerical  rela- 
tions to  a  clear  apprehension  of  the  general  principles 
involved.  For  example,  though  a  general  rule  is  given  for 
division,  pupils  are  rarely  led  even  once  to  perceive  clearly 
what  is  involved  in  such  problems  as  the  following :  divide 
10  apples  equally  among  5  boys ;  and,  having  10  apples, 
to  how  many  boys  can  I  give  2  apples  each  ?  In  grammar, 
however,  all  of  the  vital  points  in  instruction  have  been 


86  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

Ignored  to  a  greater  or  less  degree.  There  has  been, 
in  our  modern  standard  grammars,  very  little  attempt  to 
grasp  vividly  even  individual  facts  of  language,  almost  no 
attempt  to  develop  general  principles  from  individual  illus- 
trations, and  but  meager  and  formal  application  of  general 
laws  to  new  particulars.  Each  subject  is  usually  intro- 
duced by  an  underived  definition,  which  is  illustrated  by  a 
single  sentence,  and  applied  to  a  few  disjointed,  often 
meaningless,  sentences.  Thus,  for  illustration,  we  find  such 
treatment  as  the  following :  "  Verbs  are  divided,  according  to 
their  use,  into  transitive  and  intransitive.  A  transitive  verb 
receives  or  requires  an  object  to  complete  its  meaning. 
Example.  —  The  servant  opened  the  Uoor.  What  walls  can 
guard  me,  or  what  shades  can  hide  [me]  ?  —  Pope.  An 
intransitive  verb  neither  receives  nor  requires  an  object  to 
complete  its  meaning.  Example.  —  The  sun  rises.  The 
horse  runs.''^  We  have  for  application  such  sentences  as 
the  following :  Anna  loves  her  mother,  The  golden  gates 
open,  The  moon  silvers  the  distant  hills,  Mary  has  found 
her  ring,  Eleanor  writes  poetry,  The  snow  melts,  etc. 

What  wonder  that  countless  children  have  thought  gram- 
mar "  dry,"  when  they  have  begun  with  abstractions  whose 
full  meaning  they  were  never  taught  to  see,  and  whose 
application,  of  the  most  formal  kind,  was  to  meager 
amounts  of  matter  possessing  often  neither  coherency  nor 
inherent  value  ? 

We  have  been  trying  to  discover  what  the  essential  ele- 
ments of  a  good  method  are.  If  one  or  more  of  these 
elements  are  ignored  or  slighted,  the  method  is  pedagogically 
unsound,  and  its  results  will  be  unsatisfactory,  whether  the 
fault  be  in  the  text-book,  or  in  the  teacher,  or  in  both.  But  if 
the  essentials  of  right  methods  are  observed,  there  may  be 
almost  infinite  variety  of  device  in  teaching  and  reciting 


FROM  GENERAL  TO  INDIVIDUAL  NOTIONS.        87 

the  lesson,  without  vitiating  the  results.  This  is  the  true 
scope  for  the  individuality  of  the  teacher  and  the  text- 
book, but  neither  teacher  nor  book  can  ignore  the  essential 
forms  of  true  methods  without  encountering  partial  or 
total  failure.  , 

Until  recently,  formalism  governed  our  teaching  of  gram- 
mar. The  recitation  of  rules  which  had  lost,  or  perhaps 
never  had,  content ;  the  endless  repetition  of  forms  value- 
less for  thought ;  and  the  ceaseless  and  formal  iteration  of 
the  properties  of  the  parts  of  speech  in  parsing,  long  after 
the  last  ripple  of  thought  or  interest  had  faded  away, — 
led  finally  to  a  revolt  which  is  almost  as  irrational  as  that 
from  which  it  would  fly.  In  a  vast  number  of  schools, 
grammar  proper  has  disappeared,  and  in  its  place  has  come 
the  "language  lesson."  This  consists  chiefly  in  practice 
upon  the  art  of  composing,  and  is  usually  accompanied 
with  some  formal  instruction  upon  such  grammatical  forms 
as  appear  in  writing.  This  is  well  enough  in  the  element- 
ary grades,  but  it  is  not  grammar;  it  opens  the  mind  to 
none  of  the  great  lines  of  thought  to  which  grammar  is  the 
gateway,  —  logic,  rhetoric,  psychology,  philosophy. 

In  geography  and  history  the  case  is  not  greatly  different. 
Text-books  in  geography  often  begin  with  abstract  defini- 
tions, of  which  the  child  can  have  little  or  no  apprehension. 
Thus,  "  The  earth  is  the  planet  on  which  we  live."  Even 
with  the  simpler  notions,  such  as  mountain,  river,  plain, 
lake,  island,  cape,  little  effort  is  made  to  enable  the  child 
to  arrive  at  proper  conceptions,  or  even  to  obtain  any 
conceptions  at, all.  But  perhaps  the  most  serious  fault  of 
the  current  methods  of  teaching  geography  is,  that  the 
child  is  not  taught  to  look  within  and  beyond  the  individ- 
ual facts  he  learns.  The  subject  remains  in  its  individual- 
ized stage.     There  is  no  passing  from  individual  to  general 


88  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

notions,  no  application  of  geographical  principles  to  new 
particulars.  For  this  reason,  no  geographical  fact  appears 
to  have  more  than  a  momentary  and  accidental  relation  to 
any  other.  Under  such  treatment,  geography .  becomes  a 
chaos  of  unrelated  facts,  having  no  progress,  no  develop- 
ment, no  rational  unification,  no  end.  Facts  are  learned 
only  to  be  forgotten,  or  to  lie  in  the  soul  isolated  and 
devoid  of  significance.  Eitter  and  Guyot  never  subject 
geography  to  such  irrational  treatment,  but  then  their 
books  are  not  popular.  They  demand  some  thought  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher,  and  thought  is  the  last  thing  which 
the  inexperienced  or  untrained  teacher  is  able  or  willing  to 
give.  ^         CW- 

History,  like  geography,  records  a  wilderness  of  facts. 
If  our  analysis  of  the  essentials  of  right  methods  is  correct, 
these  facts  should  be  grouped,  not  only  so  that  they  may 
be  remembered,  but  so  that  the  lessons  they  should  teach 
may  appear  in  the  consciousness  of  the  learner.  This  is 
true  not  alone  of  the  ethical  lessons  with  which  history 
always  abounds,  but  also  of  the  immediate  ends  for  which 
men  struggle.  When  the  objective  point  for  which  a  war, 
a  campaign,  or  a  battle  is  conducted  is  once  understood,  it 
becomes  a  beacon-light  by  which  the  meaning  of  every 
movement  may  be  examined.  Historical  facts  are  then 
vitally  related  and  easily  remembered.  But  to  require  an 
unthinking  memorizing  of  facts,  to  impart  a  knowledge 
whose  rational  connection  and  significance  depends  upon 
accident,  and  whose  application  never  appears,  is  to  pursue 
a  method  as  unpedagogical  as  it  is  easy. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ADDITIONAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

METHOD-WHOLES. 

§  45.  A  METHOD  of  teacliing  which  deals  solely  or  chiefly 
with  individual  facts,  without  regard  to  their  logical  inter- 
dependence and  content,  would  naturally  need  to  take  no 
thought  about  the  most  efficient  subdivision  of  the  matter 
to  be  learned,  since  one  halting-place  would  be  as  good  as 
another.  Thus,  a  certain  number  of  words  in  spelling,  a 
given  number  of  places  in  a  map-lesson  in  geography,  a 
convenient  number  of  pages  in  history  would  constitute  the 
lesson.  Only  considerations  of  the  time  at  disposal  and  the 
age  of  the  pupils  would  determine  these  purely  arbitrary 
subdivisions.  With  a  rational  view  of  the  function  of 
instruction  and  the  necessary  form  of  right  methods,  quite 
another  principle  of  subdivision  must  be  observed.  In 
accordance  with  this  idea,  individual  facts  must  be  made  to 
yield  their  rational  content  in  the  form  of  definitions,  riileSj 
'principles,  maxims,  etc.,  ivhich  must  in  turn  have  a  wide 
application  to  the  whole  field  of  new  individual  facts  to  ivhich 
they  are  appropriate.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  there  mitst 
he  a  suhdivisioji  of  the  matter  of  instruction  for  every  impor- 
tant general  notion  ivhich  is  to  be  derived  and  applied.  Thus, 
each  important  definition  or  rule  of  mathematics  or  gram- 
mar should  be  treated  by  itself  in  derivation  or  develop- 
ment from  individual  facts,  and  in  its  appropriate  applica- 
tion.     Here  the  proper  subdivision  is  almost  a  matter  of 


90  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

course,  but  it  is  more  difficult  in  the  departments  of  history, 
geography,  and  natural  history,  where  apparent  progress  is 
possible  without  any  reflection  whatever.  In  mathematics 
and  grammar  a  separate  division  or  method-whole  can 
usually  be  treated  every  day ;  but  in  the  other  departments 
named,  a  method-whole  will  frequently  occupy  the  time  of 
the  class  for  several  days.  For  example,  Grant's  Chatta- 
nooga Campaign  may  well  be  treated  as  a  whole,  as  the 
working  out  of  a  single  conception,  yet  it  would  ordinarily 
need  more  than  a  single  recitation  to  complete  the  subject. 
In  mathematical  and  physical  geography,  the  subdivisions 
are  as  plainly  marked  as  in  mathematics  and  grammar :  but 
political  geography  is  in  special  danger  of  aimless  and  use- 
less subdivision.  Each  group  of  political  facts  should  be 
viewed  as  the  manifestation  of  some  idea,  the  result  of 
some  cause,  social,  physical,  or  economical;  for  example, 
the  rise  of  great  cities,  the  development  of  manufacturing 
industries,  the  distribution  of  population,  the  prevalence  of 
staple  crops,  the  growth  of  facilities  for  transportation. 
If  a  section  of  country  is  to  be  studied,  its  rivers,  moun- 
tains, towns,  lines  of  communications,  inhabitants,  furnish 
topics  for  the  individual  facts ;  a  drawing  of  the  whole 
brings  the  manifold  into  a  unity  ;  while  drawings  from 
memory,  the  location  of  important  points,  imaginary  jour- 
neys from  place  to  place,  descriptions  of  people,  employ- 
ments, etc.,  furnish  ample  application.  The  younger  the 
children  are,  the  smaller  must  the  subdivisions  be.  Only 
one  caution  needs  to  be  given.  Care  must  be  taken  not  to 
atomize  the  instruction.  /  The  presupposition  of  brains  on 
the  part  of  the  children  must  always  be  made,  for  they 
come  to  a  thousand  conclusions  and  take  a  thousand  steps 
in  thinking,  which  the  teacher  need  not  painfully  point  out. 
The  teacher  is  needed  for  those  steps  which  the  children 


ADDITIONAL   CONSIDERATIONS.  91 

cannot  take  alone,  the  derivations  and  applications  which 
they  would  not  or  could  not  make ;  consequently,  instruc- 
tion should  deliberately  plan  for  these  greater  matters  of 
education,  leaving  the  smaller  ones  to  an  awakened  sponta- 
neity of  the  pupil,  or  to  incidental  instruction.  /  With  these 
general  remarks  on  the  subdivision  of  the  matter  of  in- 
struction into  method-wholes,  the  subject  may  be  deferred 
until  the  practical  illustrations  are  reached. 

RELATION     OF     SO-CALLED     "  METHODS  "     TO    THE    ESSENTIAL 

FORMS. 

§  46.  That  the  relation  of  the  essential  forms  of  instruc- 
tion, as  exhibited  in  this  volume,  to  what  are  usually  known 
as  "methods"  of  teaching  may  clearly  appear,  a  brief 
analysis  of  the  latter  will  now  be  given.  Methods  of 
imparting  knowledge  may  be  considered  from  three  stand- 
points :  (1)  the  learner,  (2)  the  matter  taught,  and  (3)  the 
teacher. 

1.  Methods  with  regard  to  the  learner.  —  Nothing  can 
be  learned,  except  as  it  is  apprehended  under  the  forms 
of  thought ;  of  these,  logic  exhibits  three :  (1)  the  notion, 
(2)  the  judgment,  (3)  the  syllogism.  Knowledge  can  there- 
fore be  imparted  in  the  form  of  explication,  predication,  or 
demonstration. 

(a)  The  forms  of  explication.  —  Notions,  as  the  synthe- 
sized characteristics  of  things,  form  the  elements  of  thought 
and,  hence,  of  knowledge.  The  notion  of  a  thing  is  con- 
veyed in  two  ways;  (1)  by  observation,  and  (2)  by  the 
words.  The  first  gives  the  objective,  or  observation;  the 
second,  the  defining  method.  Observation  evidently  has  to 
do  with  the  first  formal  stage  of  instruction ;  viz.,  the 
apprehension  of  the  individual  notion.     Definition  is  the 


92  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

summary  of  the  second  stage ;  viz.,  the  transition  to 
the  general  noti:n. 

(h)  The  form  of  predication.  —  When  two  or  more  notions 
are  brought  into  relation  through  the  copula,  we  have  the 
expression  of  the  judgment,  or  a  predication.  When  predi- 
cation is  made  without  regard  to  progress  in  time,  we  have 
the  descriptive  method:  this  pertains  to  the  first  stage  of 
instruction,  in  which  new  facts  are  learned.  When  the 
predication  pertains  to  that  which  is  becoming,  or  progress- 
ing in  time,  we  have  the  genetic  form  of  instruction :  this 
may  in  turn  be  progressive  or  regressive,  according  as  the 
predication  takes  the  direction  of  the  development  or  the 
reverse.  History,  for  instance,  may  be  regarded  as  a  de- 
velopment in  time,  in  which  the  events  of  one  period  appear 
as  the  cause  of  those  of  later  periods.  Like  the  descriptive 
predication,  the  genetic  belongs  to  the  first  stage  of  instruc- 
tion,—  the  imparting  of  information. 

(c)  The  form  of  demonstration. — If  two  or  more  judg- 
ments are  so  related  that  a  new  judgment  follows,  the 
syllogism  arises.  A  demonstration  must  proceed  from  a 
universal  to  a  particular,  or  the  reverse.  The  first  gives 
the  deductive  proof;  the  second,  the  inductive.  Induction 
answers  especially  to  the  second  grand  stage  of  instruction, 
for  it  is  the  business  of  induction  to  derive  a  universal 
truth  from  given  particulars.  Deduction  corresponds  most 
closely  to  the  stage  of  application,  or  the  return  from 
universals  to  new  particulars. 

2.  Methods  with  regard  to  the  thing  learned.  —  An 
object  of  knowledge  is  analogous  to  the  notion  with  its 
characteristics :  it  consists  of  a  whole  and  its  parts.  One 
may  begin  with  the  whole  and  proceed  to  its  parts,  or  one 
may  begin  with  the  parts  and  proceed  to  the  whole.  Thus, 
in  geography,  the  earth  itself,  or  the  geographical  facts  in 


ADDITIONAL   CONSIDERATIONS.  93 

the  neighborhood,  may  be  the  starting-point.  The  method 
which  begins  with  the  whole  and  proceeds  to  the  parts  is 
analytical ;  that  which  begins  with  separate  facts  and  works 
toward  the  total  is  synthetical.  The  essential  forms  of 
right  methods  may  be  observed  with  either  of  these  pro- 
cesses ;  e.g.,  it  is  indifferent,  so  far  as  observation  of  the 
essentials  of  right  methods  is  concerned,  whether  grammar 
is  begun  with  the  senteriffe  or  with  the  woi'd,  whether  gram- 
mar is  taught  analytically  or  synthetically.  It  goes  without 
saying,  that  these  two  methods  of  treating  a  subject  may  be 
combined. 

3.  Methods  with  regard  to  the  teacher.  —  Aside  from  the 
first  two  considerations,  the  communication  of  knowledge 
is  realized  (1)  through  the  monologue  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher,  or  (2)  through  the  dialogue,  in  which  the  question 
is  an  important  factor.  The  monologue  is  important  in 
imparting  information,  in  the  first  stage ;  and  the  dialogue 
(catechetical,  Socratic,  developing  method),  in  prepar'ation 
for  apperception,  in  developing  the  universal  from  the 
particular,  and  in  applying  it  to  other  particulars.^ 

1  Compare  Vogel,  Encyclopedx  der  Padagogik,  pp.  67-70. 


PART    III. 
PRACTICAL    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


CHAPTER  YII. 

§  47.  That  the  young  teacher  may  have  a  few  illustra- 
tions of  the  practical  workings  of  the  ideas  presented  in 
this  volume,  the  following  working  models  are  offered. 
All  that  is  claimed  for  them  is,  conformity  to  the  essential 
stages  of  a  correct  method;  viz.,  a  conscious  effort  to 
observe :  (1)  the  apperception  of  new  facts,  in  pi^eparation 
and  presentation;  (2)  the  transition  from  individual  to 
general  notions,  whether  the  latter  appear  as  definitions, 
rules,  principles,  or  moral  maxims ;  and  (3)  the  application 
of  these  general  truths  to  concrete  facts,  i.e.,  the  return 
from  universals  to  particulars.  The  illustrations  cover  all 
the  studies  of  the  common  school  curriculum,  and  often 
several  grades  of  work  in  each.  For  many  of  the  illustra- 
tions the  author  is  more  or  less  indebted  to  others,  notably 
to  Professor  W.  Rein,  of  the  university  of  Jena,  and  to 
Dr.  O.  Frick,  director  of  the  Frankeschen  Stiftungen,  in 
Halle. 

LiANGUAGE. 

§  48.     Oral  language-lesson  for  the  first  grade. 

SUBJECT-MATTER.— THE  WREN  AND  THE  BEAR. 
I. 

{a)  One  summer's  day,  a  bear  and  a  wolf  took  a  walk  in  the 
woods  together.  The  bear  heard  a  beautiful  song  from  a  bird, 
and  said,  ''Brother Wolf,  what  kind  of  a  bird  is  it  that  sings  so 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  95 

jfinely  ?  "  —  '  That  is  the  king  of  birds,"  said  the  wolf,  "  and  before 
him  we  must  bow."  It  was  the  wren,  which  is  called  the  king  of 
the  hedge.  Then  said  the  bear,  "If  that  is  so,  I  should  like  to 
see  his  kingly  palace;  come,  show  me  the  way  to  it."  —  "That 
won't  do,"  said  the  wolf :  "  you  must  wait  until  the  queen  comes." 
(6)  Soon  the  king  and  queen  came,  bringing  food  in  their  bills 
to  feed  their  children,  the  little  wrens.  The  bear  wanted  to 
follow  them  at  once,  but  the  wolf  held  him  back  by  the  sleeve, 
and  said,  "You  must  wait  until  the  king  and  queen  are  gone." 
Then  the  bear  and  the  wolf  noticed  the  hole  where  the  nest  was, 
and  went  off. 

(c)  But  the  bear  could  not  rest  until  he  had  seen  the  palace, 
and  after  a  short  time  went  back  to  the  nest  and  looked  in.  The 
king  and  the  queen  had  flown  away.  He  looked  into  the  nest, 
but  saw  nothing  except  five  or  six  young  birds.  "Is  that  the 
kingly  palace  ?  "  cried  the  bear.  "  That  is  a  pretty  palace !  You 
are  no  king's  children,  you  are  nothing  but  common  children." 
But  when  the  young  birds  heard  this,  they  were  very  angry,  and 
cried  out,  "No,  we  are  not  common  children,  our  father  is  king, 
and  our  mother  is  queen.  You  shall  be  sorry  for  what  you  have 
said,  Mr.  Bear ! " 

(d)  The  bear  and  the  wolf  began  to  be  afraid,  and  hurried 
back  to  their  dens.  The  young  birds  screamed  and  scolded  until 
their  parents  came  again,  bringing  them  more  food.  Then  they 
said,  "  Even  if  we  have  to  starve,  we  will  not  touch  so  much  as  a 
fly's  leg  until  you  have  shown  the  bear  that  we  are  not  common 
children.     He  has  been  here  and  has  insulted  us." 

(e)  Then  said  the  old  king,  "Don't  worry,  I  will  soon  settle 
that  matter."  Then  he  and  the  queen  flew  to  the  bear's  den,  and 
shouted  into  the  hole,  "You  old  growling  bear,  why  have  you 
abused  my  children  ?  You  shall  be  soiTy  for  that,  for  I  declare 
war  against  you."  Then  the  war  was  declared,  and  the  bear 
called  together  all  four-footed  animals  to  aid  him,  —  the  ox,  the 
donkey,  the  deer,  the  wolf,  and  all  others  to  be  found  in  the 
world.  The  king  called  together  all  the  animals  which  fly  in 
the  air ;  not  only  all  the  birds,  big  and  little,  but  all  flies  and 
gnats  and  bees  and  hornets. 


THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 


(a)  When  the  war  was  about  to  begin,  the  king  sent  out  his 
spies  to  find  out  who  the  general  of  the  army  was.  The  gnat, 
who  was  the  slyest  of  all,  flew  into  the  woods  where  the  bear  and 
his  friends  were  gathered,  and  lit  on  the  under  side  of  a  leaf  of 
the  tree  under  which  the  matter  was  to  be  settled.  The  bear 
stood  up,  called  out  the  fox,  and  said,  "  Fox,  you  are  the  most 
cunning  of  all  animals,  you  shall  be  our  general  and  lead  us."  — 
"  All  right,"  said  the  fox,  **  but  what  sort  of  signs  shall  we  agree 
upon?"  Nobody  knew.  Finally  the  fox  said,  "I  have  a  fine, 
long,  bushy  tail ;  it  looks  like  a  fine  red  plume  of  feathers. 
When  I  hold  it  up,  then  everything  is  well,  and  you  must  march 
forward ;  but  if  I  let  it  hang  down,  then  run  for  your  lives." 
When  the  gnat  heard  this,  she  fled  at  once  to  the  king,  and  told 
him  all  about  it. 

(b)  At  daybreak,  when  the  battle  was  to  begin,  the  four-footed 
animals  rushed  to  the  place  with  such  fury  that  the  earth  trembled. 
The  king  came  also  with  his  army,  through  the  air.  They  whizzed 
and  screamed  and  buzzed  until  it  was  dreadful  to  hear  them. 
But  the  king  sent  for  the  hornet  and  told  him  to  fly  down,  settle 
on  the  under  side  of  the  fox's  tail,  and  sting  with  all  his  might. 
When  the  fox  got  the  first  sting,  he  could  not  help  jumping,  but 
he  bore  the  pain,  and  kept  his  tail  up.  At  the  second  sting  he 
had  to  let  his  tail  drop  for  an  instant;  at  the  third  sting  he 
could  stand  it  no  longer,  but  dropped  his  tail  between  his  legs 
and  screamed  with  pain.  When  the  animals  saw  this,  they 
thought  everj'thing  was  lost,  and  began  to  run,  every  one  to  his 
den.     The  birds  had  won  the  battle. 

in. 

Then  the  king  and  queen  flew  back  to  their  children,  and  cried, 
"  Children,  be  happy,  eat  and  drink,  for  we  have  won  the  victory." 
But  the  young  ones  said,  "  We  will  not  yet  eat.  The  bear  must 
first  come  before  the  nest  and  beg  pardon,  and  say  that  we  are 
kingly  children."  Then  the  king  flew  to  tlie  bear's  den,  and  said, 
"  You  old,  groM^ling  bear,  you  must  go  to  my  nest  and  ask  pardon, 
and  say  that  my  children  are  kingly  children,  or  you  will  have 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  97 

every  rib  in  your  body  broken."  The  bear  crept  to  tlie  nest  in 
fear,  and  begged  for  pardon.  The  young  birds  were  now  satis- 
fied. They  came  together,  ate  and  drank,  and  had  a  jolly  time 
till  late  into  the  night. 

TREATMENT. 

The  entire  story  is  considered  a  method-whole,  but  is  subdivided 
for  convenience  of  preimration  and  x>resentation,  and  of  repetition 
by  the  children. 

(^)i    STAGE  OF  APPERCEPTION. 
I. 

(1)  Preparation  for  Section  I.  —  We  have  learned  about  the 
wolf  and  the  seven  kids,  also  about  the  wolf  and  the  fox.  Per- 
haps 3'ou  have  seen  a  bear?  (Dancing  bear,  picture.)  The 
wren,  or  the  king  of  the  hedge,  is  one  of  the  smallest  of  birds. 
A  king  lives  in  a  castle.  (Pictures.)  What  is  the  castle  of  the 
hedge  king?  Who  obeys  him?  (Animals.)  Are  they  always 
peaceful?  What  do  they  do  sometimes?  Who  has  seen  this? 
(Fights  between  dogs,  between  cat  and  dog,  etc.)  Leaders, 
parties,  war,  victoiy. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Teacher  tells  the  story  in  sections  to 
"bees  and  hornets,"  pausing  at  the  end  of  each  subdivision,  a,  6, 
c,  d,  and  e,  to  have  the  story  repeated  by  the  children. 

II. 

(1)  Preparation  for  Section  II.  —  Now,  there  were  two 
armies  who  were  going  to  have  a  battle.  What  animals  were  on 
one  side  ?  What  on  the  other  ?  What  kind  of  weapons  did  they 
have  ?  Was  each  animal  allowed  to  do  whatever  he  wanted  to  ? 
Who  gave  the  orders  for  one  side?  For  the  other?  General, 
scout,  battle.     Which  side  do  you  think  will  win  ? 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Story  in  sections  a  and  b,  to  "the  birds 
had  won  the  battle."     Children  repeat  as  before. 

'  To  avoid  needless  repetition,  let  it  be  understood  tliat  the  capital  letter  A 
stands  for  the  stage  of  apperception ;  B,  for  the  transition  from  the  individual  to 
the  general  notion  ;  and  C,  for  the  stage  of  application,  or  the  return  from  general 
notions  (definitions,  rules,  principles,  maxims,  etc.)  to  new  individual  notions. 


98  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

in. 

(1)  Preparation  for  Section  III.  —  The  bear  had  lost  the 
battle.  Do  you  suppose  the  young  birds  were  entirely  satisfied  ? 
Why  not ?     What  ought  the  bear  to  do  yet? 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Story  to  the  end,  with  repetition  of  the 
various  sections  until  all  the  children  can  repeat  the  whole  story  in 
good  language.  This  will  require  several  recitations  of  twenty 
minutes  each. 

(By    STAGE  OF  ELABORATION. 

Transition  from  pai'ticalars  to  generals. 

(3)  Derivation  of  notional  content,  (In  this  case  moral 
maxims.) 

The  bear  was  very  curious.  He  wanted  to  see  what  he  sup- 
posed would  be  the  castle  of  the  king's  children.  But  he  judged 
according  to  appearances.  Do  appearances  ever  deceive?  (In- 
stances by  the  children.)  Did  he  speak  properly  to  the  young 
birds,  even  if  they  had  been  what  the  bear  supposed?  He 
insulted  them.  Was  that  right  ?  What  did  the  fox  call  the  wolf  ? 
(See  Grimm's  story  of  "The  Fox  and  the  Wolf.")  A  glutton. 
Was  this  an  insult  ?  Should  children  call  names  ?  Did  the 
young  birds  put  up  with  everything  ?     What  did  they  do  ? 

Formulation  of  Maxims.  —  (1)  Do  not  judge  according  to 
appearances.  (2)  Insult  no  one.  (3)  Guard  your  good  name. 
(4)  Do  not  he  over  curious. 

(C)i    STAGE  OF  APPLICATION. 

(4)  Application  —  Examples  of  children  who  are  too  curious. 
If  any  one  is  poorly  clothed,  what  may  one  not  say  at  once? 
Should  he  be  insulted  ?  If  any  one  insults  you,  how  shall  you 
act?    Examples. 

1  See  note  at  foot  of  page  83. 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  99 

§  49.     Oi'al  language-lesson  for  the  second  or  third  grade. 

THE  SHIPWRECK.  ^ 

Adapted  from  **  Robinson  Crnsoe^ 

They  had  sailed  several  weeks,  and  Robinson  had  long  since 
forgotten  his  intention  to  return  home.  Suddenly  there  arose  a 
second  storm,  much  more  fearful  than  the  first.  The  ship  was 
tossed  about  on  the  sea  like  a  nutshell,  and  the  waves  'broke  over 
the  deck  every  minute.  Then  Robinson  became  dreadfully 
frightened,  and  thought  every  instant  to  find  his  death  in  the 
waves. 

The  storm  lasted  for  several  hours.  All  at  once  Robinson  felt 
a  powerful  shock.  The  ship  had  struck  upon  the  rocks.  At  that 
instant  the  sailors  cried  out,  "  The  ship  has  sprung  a  leak ! " 

The  water  rushed  into  the  si\\\).  Everybody  cried  for  help. 
Each  thought  only  of  saving  his  own  life.  A  boat  was  lowered 
into  the  sea  at  once,  and  all  sprang  in.  They  had  not  gone  far 
from  the  ship,  when  a  mighty  wave  upset  the  boat,  and  swallowed 
up  all  the  men. 

Robinson  was  also  thrown  into  the  sea  by  the  wave,  but  he 
succeeded  in  rising  to  the  surface  for  an  instant ;  in  the  next  he 
was  again  under  water.  Soon  a  wave  lifted  him  up  again,  and 
he  was  able  to  keep  his  head  and  breast  out  of  the  water  for  a 
short  time.  He  noticed  that  he  was  not  far  from  land.  Scarcely 
had  he  spied  the  shore  when  a  wave  dashed  him  so  violently 
against  a  rock  that  he  believed  liis  last  moment  had  arrived. 
But  he  had  presence  of  mind  enough  to  cling  to  the  rock  with  his 
arms.  This  saved  him;  for,  soon  a  returning  wave  dashed  over 
him,  and  would  have  carried  him  away,  had  he  not  held  fast. 
Now  he  clambered  up  the  shore,  but  his  strength  was  so  far  gone 
that  he  fainted. 

For  a  time  he  lay  unconscious.  As  he  opened  his  eyes,  his 
first  words  were,  "  Where  am  I  ?  "  He  looked  about  for  the  men 
who  had  been  with  him  in  the  boat,  but  nothing  was  to  be  seen 
of  them.  They  were  drowned  in  the  sea,  and  he  alone  had  re- 
mained alive.     He  fell  upon  his  knees  and  tlianked  God  for  his 


100  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

TREATMENT. 

(Elaborate  outline  by  a  student  of  Illinois  State  Normal  University.) 

Determine  what  subdivisions,  if  any,  are  needed.  —  This 
section  might  be  subdivided  into  two  parts,  the  first  being  a 
description  of  tlie  shipwreck  as  a  whole  (.  .  .  "  and  swallowed  up 
all  the  men ") ,  the  second  relating  the  individual  event  concern- 
ing Robinson's  wonderful  rescue  (.  .  .  "thanked  God  for  his 
rescue"). 

The  idea  to  be  developed  out  of  the  first  part  would  be  the 
fearfulness  of  a  storm  at  sea ;  that  of  the  second,  the  necessity  of 
keeping  his  presence  of  mind  in  danger.  But  as  it  is  a  second 
storm,  it  may  be  supposed  that  something  about  such  a  calamity 
has  been  said  in  the  first  section ;  moreover,  the  two  ideas  to  be 
brought  out  are  so  nearly  related  that  the  entire  section  can  be 
taken  as  o?ie  method-whole. 

(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  Teacher :  We  have  had  many  stories  that 
tell  us  about  life  on  the  land  or  the  continent;  this  time  we 
may  see,  therefore,  how  things  look  on  water,  and  what  may 
happen  when  we  are  there.  —  Who  has  ever  seen  a  large  river  or 
a  lake  ?  Have  you  ever  been  in  a  ship  there  ?  Yes ;  Mississippi, 
Lake  Michigan,  etc.  How  is  a  boat  moved?  Oars,  sails,  steam. 
Teacher  mentions  that  the  use  of  steam  was  not  known  in 
former  times.  Is  a  voyage  on  water  pleasant,  or  not?  O,  yes. 
But  rivers  and  lakes  are  not  all  the  water  we  have.  Who  knows 
whither  the  Mississippi  is  flowing?  The  St.  Lawi*ence?  Any 
river?  Why  does  the  sea  not  overflow?  Nobody.  Teacher: 
This  seems  strange,  and  I  myself  studied  about  that  when  a  boy ; 
finally  I  found  it  out,  and  I'll  tell  you  about  it  at  some  other 
time,  if  nobody  anticipates  me.  Do  you  believe  there  are  any 
ships  on  the  sea?  How  many?  Pupils  laughing.  Do  you  think 
they  are  as  large  as  those  on  rivers  or  lakes  ?  Who  has  ever  seen 
one  ?  Teacher  presents  a  picture  of  an  ocean  steamer  and  of  a 
large  sail  vessel.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  Europe  ?  O,  yes ;  son 
of  an  immigrant.     How  do  immigrants  come  from  there,  or  how 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  lOJ 

would  you  get  there  ?  Why  ?  Do  you  know  how  the  Chinamen 
come  to  this  country  ?  The  sea  they  have  to  cross  is  even  much 
larger  than  that  between  America  and  Europe.  Do  you  suppose 
you  could  see  the  shore  at  any  time  when  at  sea?  Could  the 
voyage  be  made  in  a  shorter  or  longer  time  before  the  use  of 
steam-power  ?  What  power  only  was  then  used  to  move  these 
large  vessels  ? 

You  told  me  a  while  ago  that  traveling  on  water  is  very 
pleasant  Can  you  think  of  a  case  where  it  would  not  be  so  ? 
Wind,  sweeping  away  whole  towns.  What  effect  will  it  have 
upon  the  water  ?  Upon  the  ship  ?  Tossing.  How  if  the  shore 
or  some  shallow  place  were  near?  What  of  the  ship  and  the 
passengers  ?  Do  you  think  such  a  case  may  be  foreseen  ?  Can 
the  storai  be  avoided  ?  Can  any  preparation  be  made  to  avoid 
danger  ?  Did  you  ever  see  a  small  boat  hung  on  the  side  of  a 
largo  vessel?  What  for?  A?is.  —  I  thought  it  was  for  fishing 
or  bathing.  Not  quite ;  they  are  safety-boats ;  a  large  sea  vessel 
has  several  of  them,  perhaps  a  dozen. 

Would  you  now  have  courage  enough  to  sail  in  such  a  vessel 
for  51  far  country?  A  sailor's  boy,  who  could  not  keep  his 
seat  quietly,  "I  should,  I  should!"  You,  boys?  "  O,  yes." 
You,  girls?     (Doubts.) 

(2)  Presentation.  —  (a)  Relate  the  story,  being  careful  in  the 
text.  Stop  at  the  point  where  the  individual  story  begins.  Let 
the  pupils  repeat  thus  far;  coiTect  false  conceptions.  Second 
part  in  the  same  way. 

(b)  Do  not  interrupt  the  pupil  at  every  moment ;  let  him  have 
"  his  talk,"  and  see  what  his  conception  of  the  matter  is. 

(c)  Use  correct  and  logical  language,  in  repetition  as  ivell  as 
the  first  time,  or  the  pupils  will  correct  you. 

{d)  Let  the  whole  section  be  related,  finally  the  whole  story. 

(B.) 

(3)  Ask  questions  "which  will  bring  out  the  general  truth 
you  wish  to  teach.  —  Had  this  ship  any  provisions  for  the  saving 
of  life  in  time  of  danger  ?  How  do  you  know  it  ?  A  safety-boat 
was  lowered.     How  do  you  think  the   passengers  felt  in  that 


102  THE  •ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

dreadful  moment?  Anguish.  Do  you  suppose  this  passage  from 
the  sinking  ship  into  the  boat  took  place  in  goed  order?  No, 
disorder.  Why?  Everybody  cried  for  help,  thought  only  of 
saving  his  owji  life.  Upon  what,  then,  can  you  not  always  rely  in 
such  a  calamity?  Upon  the  help  of  others.  Upon  whom,  there- 
fore, would  you  have  to  rely?  In  my  own  powers.  Would  you 
not  think  at  all  to  help  others  ?  (Indecision.)  Teacher :  There  are 
examples  of  persons  who  have  done  so,  and  it  would  be  well  for 
you  to  imitate  them,  so  far  as  you  can.  Yet  nobody  will  reproach 
you  when  you  think  of  saving  yourself,  too. 

Could  Robinson  do  anything  for  the  men  in  the  boat  when  this 
was  upset  by  the  wave  ?  No.  Why?  No  possibility ;  all  swallowed 
up.  How  would  you  call  a  man  that  thinks  only  about  his  own 
safety,  though  he  could  also  do  something  for  others  ?  Selfish. 
Was  Robinson  selfish  ? 

Let  us  see  quite  clearly  how  Robinson  came  to  save  his  life 
when  all  others  were  swallowed  up.  What  did  he  do  when  the 
wave  brought  him  up  again?  Raised  head,  spied  the  shore. 
Would  all  persons  in  such  a  moment  recognize  what  was  before 
them  ?  Why  not  ?  Did  Robinson  recognize  the  shore  ?  Yes,  he 
noticed  it.  Was  he  not  in  anguish  at  all  ?  Yes  ;  but  not  so  far  as 
to  be  wholly  overcome  by  it.  Now  let's  see  what  further  hap- 
pened. Again  a  wave  dashed  over  him  and  swept  him  away. 
Where  did  he  find  himself  next  ?  Rock.  What  did  he  do  ?  What 
was  the  consequence  of  this  ?  Saved  him.  If  he  had  not  done 
that,  what  would  have  happened  ?  Why  would  he  not  have  been 
able  to  do  anything  towards  saving  his  life,  even  when  he  had 
one  more  opportunity  ?  Fainting.  Which  moment  was  this  one, 
then?  The  last  and  decisive.  How  did  he  use  it?  Very  well. 
How  could  he  do  so  ?  He  was  not  overpowered  by  fear  or 
anguish.  That's  true;  we  may  say  he  could  still  make  use  of 
what?  Of  "his  senses."  Even  more  than  that.  That  he 
stretched  out  his  arms  just  in  the  right  moment  was  not  chiefly  an 
act  of  his  body,  but  rather  of  his  mind.  What  is  therefore  said 
of  him  in  the  story  ?     He  had  presence  of  mind. 

Formulation  of  Maxim.  —  One  should  always  keep  his  pres- 
ence of  mind  in  time  of  danger. 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  103 

(C.) 

(4)  Ask  questions  showing  the  application  of  this  general 
truth.  —  Do  you  know  of  any  case  where  you  could  act  like  Robin- 
son ?  (Pause.)  You  are  perhaps  thinking  about  a  similar  case  at 
sea,  but  you  do  not  need  to  go  so  far ;  there  are  accidents  "which 
may  happen  to  you  at  any  time.  Suppose  you  fell  into  a  creek, 
one  or  two  feet  deep,  would  you  lie  there  and  continually  cry  for 
help,  or  would  you  try  to  get  out  by  yourself?  (Answer.)  But 
we  have  seen  that  you  should  also  help  others  who  are  in  danger. 
What  would  you  do  if  your  little  sister  should  happen  to  fall  into 
that  creek  near  your,  house?  Ans.  —  Spring  in  and  save  her. 
Why  not  run  home  and  call  somebody  else  ?  Might  be  too  late. 
In  which  case  would  you  show  presence  of  mind  ? 

To-morrow  we  shall  review  this  wonderful  story,  and  I  shall 
see  who  can  give  me  njore  such  cases  in  which  you  would  show 
what  you  have  learned  from  brave  Robinson. 

But  there  is  one  point  left ;  who  knows  ?  Robinson  thanking 
God  for  his  rescue.  Why  did  he  do  this?  He  did  not  think  the 
rescue  was  only  his  own  work.  Truly,  his  own  efforts  had  been 
blessed  by  help  from  God.  A  proverb  (?)  says :  '•  Help  yourself, 
and  Ood  will  help  you."  Did  he  do  well  in  thanking  God  for  his 
salvation?  All:  Certainly.  Should  you  also  be  thankful  for  his 
lielp  as  Robinson  was  ?  All :  O,  yes ;  we  learned  that  long,  long 
ago.  Very  well ;  and  how  you  can  do  this,  mamma  will  tell  you 
more  at  length  than  we  can  do  here. 

§  50.     Oral  language-lesson  for  third  or  fourth  grade. 
PARIS  AND  HELEN. 

There  was  once  a  sea-god  named  Nereus,  who  lived  upon  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  in  a  splendid  grotto,  with  his  fifty  daughters,  the 
nereids.  The  nereids  were  friendly  to  men,  and  whenever  a  ship 
was  in  danger  from  storm,  they  were  glad  to  help  the  troubled 
sailors.  They  were  all  very  beautiful,  and  one  of  them,  Thetis, 
especially  so.  Even  the  gods  of  the  sky  loved  them.  Now, 
there  was  a  young  prince  of  Thessaly,  named  Peleus,  who  was 


104  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

also  a  favorite  of  the  gods.  To  him  the  gods  gave  the  beautiful 
Thetis  as  his  wife.  The  marriage  was  celebrated  upon  Mount 
Pelion.  All  the  gods  and  the  goddesses  were  invited  to  the 
wedding,  except  the  goddess  of  Discord,  Eris  Because  she  was 
not  invited,  Eris  wanted  revenge ;  so  when  the  joyousness  was 
greatest,  she  appeared  suddenly  with  a  golden  apple  in  her  hand, 
which  she  threw  among  the  guests,  crying,  "  For  the  most 
beautiful."  Then  she  disappeared.  A  strife  now  arose  among 
the  goddesses,  Juno,  Minerva,  and  Venus,  each  of  whom  wished 
to  be  thought  the  most  beautiful.  They  were  all  indeed  very 
beautiful,  much  more  so  than  any  mortal.  Juno  was  the  wife  of 
Jupiter,  the  highest  of  the  gods,  and  was  as  beautiful  as  could 
be  imagined ;  whoever  saw  her,  was  filled  with  reverence,  and 
scarcely  dared  to  look  up  at  her.  Minerva  was  beautiful  like  the 
daughter  of  a  hero ;  courage  and  wisdom  glanced  from  her  lovely 
eyes.  Venus  was  wonderfully  lovely,  and  one  could  never  tire 
of  beholding  her  beauty.  Since  no  one  of  them  would  give  up  to 
the  others,  they  decided  to  select  a  mortal  as  judge.  But  Eris  had 
now  her  desire,  for  since  strife  had  arisen,  all  pleasure  was  at  an 
end,  and  the  wedding  guests  departed. 

In  Asia  in  a  deep  woody  vale  of  Mount  Ida,  not  far  from  the 
city  of  Troy,  lived  a  young  prince  named  Paris.  He  tended  the 
flocks  of  his  father.  It  was  he  who  was  chosen  to  decide  which  of 
the  three  goddesses  was  the  most  beautiful.  He  was  one  day  sit- 
ting in  the  shadow  of  a  tree,  and  playing  upon  a  reed  jjipe,  when 
suddenly  the  goddesses  in  their  brilliant  beauty  appeared  before 
him.  They  gave  him  the  golden  apple,  and  told  him  to  give  it 
to  the  one  whom  he  thought  most  beautiful.  Juno  said  to  him, 
"If  you  will  give  the  apple  to  me,  I  will  make  you  a  mighty 
king,  and  you  shall  rule  over  broad  lands."  Minerva  said,  "If 
you  will  give  me  the  apple,  I  will  give  you  great  wisdom,  so 
that  men  shall  praise  you  as  a  god,  and  shall  come  from  afar  to 
ask  your  advice."  But  Venus  said,  "My  reward  to  you,  if  you 
decide  in  my  favor,  shall  be  the  most  beautiful  wife  to  be  found 
upon  the  earth." 

Each  reward  promised  by  the  goddesses,  as  they  spoke  one  by 
one,  appeared  to  the  prince  the  highest  that  could  be  desired. 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  105 

But  being  young,  he  finally  thought  there  could  be  nothing  finer 
than  to  have  the  most  beautiful  wife  on  earth.  Therefore,  he 
handed  the  apple  to  Venus.  This  victory  gi-eatly  pleased  her, 
but  the  other  goddesses  cast  their  hate  upon  Paris  and  his  whole 
race. 

TREATMENT. 
{By  a  Normal  Student.) 

Story  divided  into  three  sections,  each  of  which  is  treated  as  a 
method-whole. 

I.  — (A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  Do  we  ever  hear  of  more  than  one  God? 
Do  you  think  people  always  thought  there  was  only  one  God  ? 
They  used  to  think  the  sun  was  a  god,  that  there  was  a  god  of 
thunder,  of  light,  and  gods  of  the  sea.  Have  any  of  you  ever 
seen  a  sea  ?  Where  do  you  suppose  the  gods  of  the  sea  lived  ? 
Who  has  ever  heard  or  read  of  a  cave  or  grotto  ?  Do  you  think 
the  people  supposed  the  gods  were  anything  like  men  and  had 
children  like  men?  Do  you  suppose  the  daughters  of  the  gods 
worked  the  same  as  our  girls  now  work,  or  as  our  grandmothers 
used  to  work  when  they  were  girls?  How  many  have  ever 
heard  them  tell  about  spinning  and  about  the  spinning-wheels, 
the  spindles,  etc.,  they  used  to  use?  Can  you  tell  me  what  a 
spindle  is?  Do  you  think  these  girls  of  the  gods  were  anything 
like  our  grandmothers,  or  your  sisters  and  playmates  who  like  to 
help  people  when  they  are  in  trouble  ? 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Story  to  **  They  were  all  very  beautiful," 
etc.    Repetitions  and  corrections. 

(B.) 

(3)  Did  you  ever  see  a  little  boy  or  girl  in  danger  ?  Coasting, 
skating.     Did  you  try  to  help  them  ? 

Formulation.  —  We  must  help  our  friends. 

(O.) 

(4)  Application.  —  What  should  we  do  when  we  see  a  little 
friend  accidentally  drop  his  books,  or  fall,  or  lose  his  ball  ? 


106  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

II. -(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  Where  do  you  think  the  gods  of  the  sun,  the 
lightning,  etc.,  lived?  How  many  can  tell  whether  a  prince  is  a 
god  or  not .5^  How  many  can  tell  me  anything  about  a  prince? 
Do  you  know  what  the  wives  of  the  gods  were  called?  There 
were  goddesses  of  wisdom,  beauty,  courage,  love,  discord,  har- 
mony, etc.  How  many  can  tell  what  is  meant  by  discord  ?  Do 
you  think  the  people  would  be  happy  where  the  goddess  of  Dis- 
cord was  ?  When  some  people  think  they  are  not  well  treated, 
how  do  they  feel  ?     Revengeful. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Story  to  "  A  strife  now  arose,"  etc.  Repe- 
tition, adding  first  section. 

(1)  Preparation.  —  How  many  know  what  is  meant  by  strife? 
Do  you  not  think  it  would  be  strange  to  have  a  strife  at  a  wedding  ? 
Bring  out  children's  idea  of  reverence  and  of  any  other  words  they 
might  not  understand  clearly. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Story  to  "In  Asia,"  etc.  Repetition  of 
whole  so  far  as  learned. 

(B.) 

(3)  If  some  people  do  not  treat  us  just  as  we  think  we  ought  to 
be  treated,  is  it  right  for  us  to  try  to  make  them  unhappy  ?  Is  it 
right  for  people  to  try  so  hard  for  a  thing  that  they  are  unkind 
to  each  other  ?  Can  any  one  be  happy  by  so  doing  ?  Was  it  right 
for  these  goddesses  to  be  proud  of  their  beauty  ?  If  they  had 
been  as  good  as  they  were  beautiful,  would  they  have  been  so 
jealous  of  each  other?  Cannot  all  people,  even  if  they  are  not 
beautiful,  be  good? 

Formulation.  —  We  should  not  seek  revenge.  Do  not  quarrel 
with  your  playmates.  We  should  not  be  proud  of  our  good  looks. 
Handsome  is  as  handsome  does. 

(C.) 

(4)  Application.  —  If  one  of  your  little  playmates  should  try 
to  tease  you,  would  it  be  right  for  you  to  be  unkind  to  him  in  any 
way  ?  Do  you  not  feel  sorry  when  you  have  had  trouble  with  any 
of  your  playmates  ?     How  can  you  be  happy,  then  ?     If  boys  and 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  107 

girls  have  not  beautiful  faces,  can  they  not  be  beautiful  by 
making  their  lives  beautiful?  How  can  they  make  their  lives 
beautiful  ? 

III.  -  (A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  Where  is  Asia?  Teacher  get  children's 
idea  of  a  mountain  and  a  valley,  and  help  them  locate  Troy. 
How  many  have  ever  seen  a  reed  ?  Do  you  think  any  one  could 
make  music  on  one  ?  Get  the  children's  idea  of  decide,  advice, 
victory,  etc. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Finish  story,  uniting  sections. 

(B.) 

(3)  Did  Paris  do  right  to  decide  in  favor  of  Venus  simply 
because  he  wanted  her  present  ?  Is  it  right  when  any  one  is  act- 
ing as  judge,  to  decide  in  favor  of  anything  but  what  is  right? 

Formulation.  —  We  should  not  let  our  opinions  be  bought. 

(C.) 

(4)  Application.  —  If  one  of  your  playmates  should  say  she 
would  give  you  an  apple  if  you  would  say  she  had  the  prettiest 
doll,  what  would  you  do  ?  If  mamma  should  ask  you  to  do  an 
errand  for  her,  would  it  be  right  to  say,  "I  will  if  you  will  give 
me  a  piece  of  cake  "  ?    What  should  you  do  ? 

§  51.     A  lesson  in  beginning  grammar. 

WHAT  ARE  THE  ESSENTIAL  ELEMENTS  OF  A  SENTENCE? 

(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  Why  do  we  talk  or  write?  To  convey  our 
thoughts  to  others.  How  is  our  thought  expressed  ?  In  words. 
Are  the  words  arranged  in  any  particular  way?  Yes,  in  sen- 
tences. Do  you  know,  then,  what  a  sentence  is?  It  is  the  ex- 
pression of  a  thought  in  words.  Can  one  word  make  a  sentence  ? 
Can  two  ?  Do  any  sentences  require  at  least  three  ?  The  words 
which  are  necessary  to  make  a  sentence  might  be  called  its  essen- 


108  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

tial  elements.  Do  you  suppose  the  number  of  essential  elements 
is  the  same  in  all  sentences  ?    Let  us  tiy  to  find  out. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  How  many  words  are  there  in  the  sen- 
tence, 

Dofjfs  are  animals  ? 

There  are  three.  What  does  the  word  dogs  express  ?  The  idea 
of  a  certain  kind  of  animals.  The  word  animals')  The  idea  of 
a  certain  class  of  living  things.  What  does  the  word  are  ex- 
press ?  Not  the  idea  of  a  thing,  but  an  affirmation,  or  decision, 
of  the  mind  with  regard  to  dogs  and  animals.  Could  there  be  a 
thought  which  does  not  think  or  affirm  something  of  something  else  ? 
No.  Could  any  one  of  the  three  words  be  omitted  without 
destroying  the  present  sense  of  this  sentence?  No.  Wliat  is 
asserted  of  cZo(7S  ?  TFAa^  they  are. 
In  the  sentence, 

Dogs  are  brave, 

what  is  asserted  of  dogs')  How  they  are.  Bravery  is  asserted  of 
them. 

Could  any  of  these  words  be  omitted  ?    In  the  sentence, 

Dogs  are  harking, 

what  is  asserted  of  dogs)  The  action  barking.  What  word 
makes  the  assertion  ?  The  word  are.  Could  any  of  these  words 
be  omitted  ?  No.  How  many  essential  elements  have  we  found 
in  each  of  the  three  sentences  ?  About  what  has  each  assertion 
been  made?  Dogs.  This  word  is,  as  you  know,  called  what? 
The  subject.  What  is  the  second  or  asserting  word  in  these  sen- 
tences called  ?  It  is  called  the  copula.  What  is  the  third  word 
called  ?  It  is  called  the  attribute,  because  it  shows  what  has  been 
attributed  to  the  subject. 

All  of  these  sentences  have  had  three  essential  words  or  ele- 
ments ;  can  you  give  me  a  statement  about  dogs  which  shall  con- 
tain but  two  words  ? 

Dogs  hark. 

Is  this  an  assertion?  Yes.  About  what  is  the  assertion 
made  ?    Dogs.    What  is   asserted  of  them  ?    The  action  bark- 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  109 

ing.  What  word  asserts  the  action  barking  of  dogs  ?  (A  prob- 
able pause.)  The  word  bark.  How  many  offices  does  the  word 
bark  appear  to  perform?  Two.  What  are  they?  The  office 
of  the  copula  and  also  that  of  the  attribute.  Can  you  make 
another  sentence  about  dogs  which  shall  contain  but  two  words  ? 
Yes. 

Dogs  are. 

What  does  this  mean?  What  have  you  asserted  of  dogs?  I 
have  asserted  their  existence  (dogs  exist  —  are  existing) .  What 
word  asserts  this  ?  The  word  are.  How  many  offices  does  the 
word  are  appear  to  fulfill  ?  Two ;  that  of  copula  and  that  of  attri- 
bute. 

(B.) 

(3)  In  each  of  the  foregoing  sentences  we  have  found  three 
elements.  Can  you  tell  what  they  are?  (1)  An  assertion  (2)  of 
something  (3)  about  something  else.  INIust  every  sentence  tell  or 
assert  something?  Can  you  assert  without  asserting  something? 
Can  you  assert  anything  without  asserting  it  of  something? 
How  many  elements,  then,  appear  necessary  to  every  sentence? 

Formulation.  —  There  are  three  essential  elements  in  every  sen- 
tence, SUBJECT,  COPULA,  and  ATTRIBUTE;  bid  the  copula  and 
aitribute  may  be  blended  into  one  word  when  the  attribute  is  verbal. 

(C.) 

(4)  Select  the  essential  elements  in  each  of  the  sentences  of  your 
reading  lesson  (subject,  copula,  and  attribute ;  or,  if  the  last  two 
are  blended,  subject  and  verb).  Remember  that  subject  and  attri- 
bute may  have  many  modifying  words. 

§  52.     A  lesson  in  advanced  grammar. 

NATURE  AND  USE  OF  THE  ADJECTIVE. 

(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  Review  of  the  noun.     What  did  we  find  the 

proper  noun  to  fee  ?     An  individual  name,  or  a  name  which  ivith- 

out  limitation  will  apply  to  one  object.     Illustrate :  John^  Chicago 


110  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

These  names  apply  to  their  respective  objects  without  any  limita- 
tion or  modification  by  adjectives.  Is  not  the  same  thing  true  of 
common  nouns  ?  No  ;  a  common  noun  cannot  apply  to  one  object, 
or  to  a  number  of  objects  less  than  the  whole  class  without  being 
limited  by  an  adjective.  Illustrate :  This  apple,  two  boys,  some 
trees,  good  children,  a  tall  man.  To  what  does  a  common  noun 
refer  when  it  is  used  without  limitation  ?  To  a  whole  class  or  to 
the  totality  of  that  to  which  it  refers.  Illustrate  :  Cats  have  sharp 
teeth  and  claws,  i.e.,  all  cats;  water  is  good  to  drink;  beauty  is 
pleasant  to  look  upon.  Must  every  noun  indicate  some  number 
or  quantity  of  that  which  it  names?  Of  course.  Classify  objects 
according  to  number  or  quantity,  0?ie,  sorne,  all.  What  name 
have  we  given  to  that  property  of  the  noun  by  virtue  of  which  it 
indicates  a  number  or  quantity  ?  Its  extent.  Show  in  a  scheme 
what  is  possible  with  regard  to  the  extent  of  the  noun. 

f     (1.)    One. 
(Individual  ) 

Extent  of  the  Noun,  i.e.,        (2.)    Some,   f  (i.)  A  limited  No. 

the  No.  or  quantity  of  that  \   (Particular.)  1   (2.)  A  limited  quantity, 
to  which  the  noun  refers. 

(3.)    All.      f  (1.)  The  whole  No. 

(General.)    |  (2.)  The  whole  quantity. 


Is  there  any  other  idea  besides  number  or  quantity  involved  in 
the  noun?  Yes,  quality.  Show  what  you  mean  by  this.  An 
object  may  be  thought  of  as  composed  of  the  qualities  which 
inhere  in  it.  Thus,  an  apple  is  round,  red,  juicy,  delicious,  nutri- 
tive, smooth  or  rough,  small  or  large,  light  or  heavy.  Since  the 
idea  of  an  apple  includes  its  qualities,  the  name  of  that  idea  also 
involves  them.  Are  certain  qualities  found  in  all  objects  of  a 
given  class?  Yes;  a  tree,  for  instance,  must  have  root,  stem, 
bark,  leaves,  sap,  wood.  Does  an  individual  object  have  qualities 
not  found  in  all  others  of  its  class?  Yes ;  some  roses  arc  red,  and 
some  are  white.  What  is  a  good  name  for  the  property  of  the 
noun  by  virtue  of  which  it  indicates  what  the  idea  of  the  object 
contains  ?  The  content.  Show  by  a  scheme  what  the  content  of  a 
noun  may  be. 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  HI 


Content  of  the  Noun,  i.e.,  the 
qualities  of  the  objects  which 
the  noun  represents. 


'  (1.)    Qualities  common  to  the  whole 
class. 

(2.)    Qualities  peculiar  to  the  indi- 
vidual  object  (as  well    as    those 
[     common  to  the  whole  class). 


(2)  Presentation.  —  In  the  sentence, 

Boi/s  become  vien, 

how  many  jiersons  do  the  terms  boys  and  men  include?  All  boys 
and  all  men;  they  refer  to  the  whole  class  of  boys  and  to  the 
whole  class  of  men.    In  the  sentence, 

Most  boys  become  men, 

what  has  been  done  to  the  word  boys'^  It  has  been  limited  in 
extent  from  all  boys  to  some  boys.    In  the  sentence, 

This  boy  will  become  a  man, 

how  has  the  word  feoy  been  affected?  It  has  been  limited  from 
the  whole  class  to  a  single  individual.     In  the  sentence, 

Water  quenches  fire, 

how  is  the  word  water  used  ?  In  its  general  or  universal  sense ; 
it  includes  all  water.     Is  this  true  in 

Bring  me  some  water? 

No.  A  certain  quantity  is  refen*ed  to,  so  that  the  word  water  is 
limited  from  its  general  sense,  in  which  it  includes  all  water,  so 
that  it  embraces  only  a  certain  quantity. 

(In  practice,  the  teacher  would  now  probably  sum  up  what  has 
been  learned  under  the  head  of  limiting  adjectives,  since  this 
would  be  ample  for  one  lesson.;  We  will,  however,  complete  the 
subject  of  the  adjective,  as  if  it  were  to  be  treated  in  a  single 
recitation.) 

Have  the  adjectives  thus  far  done  anything  more  than  limit  the 
extent  of  the  noun  ?  No.  What  office  do  the  adjectives  perfoim 
in  the  followin«r  sentences? 


112  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

(1)  Good  Indians  die  yoirng. 

(2)  Tall  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow. 

(3)  The  frisky  lamb  plays  about  its  mother. 

(4)  The  bright  sun  rises  to  his  course. 

(5)  The  purring  kitten  loves  to  lie  by  the  fire. 

(6)  Tall  boys  make  tall  men. 

They  modify  the  noun  by  pointing  out  some  quality  belonging 
to  the  object  represented  by  it.  Does  the  adjective  in  any  case 
li7nil  the  extent  of  the  noun  ?  Yes  ;  in  the  first  sentence  the  word 
Indians  is  limited  to  a  part  of  the  class.  The  implication  is  that 
only  bad  Indians  grow  up.  In  the  sixth  class,  also,  tall  boys  are 
contrasted  in  thought  with  boys  who  are  not  tall ;  hence,  the  word 
boys  is  limited  in  extent.  In  the  second,  it  is  not  intended  to 
restrict  the  term  oaks  to  those  which  are  tall,  for  all  oaks  grow 
from  acorns.  Neither  is  it  intended  to  limit  the  word  lamb  in  the 
third,  for  all  lambs  are  frisky.  In  the  fourth,  there  is  no  limita- 
tion in  extent,  for  we  have  but  one  sun.  So  in  the  fifth,  all 
kittens  purr.  In  numbers  two,  three,  four,  and  five,  the  adjective 
merely  modifies  the  noun  by  pointing  out  a  quality. 

(B.) 

(3)  We  have  thus  far  found  two  kinds  of  adjectives.  What  are 
they?  Those  which  simply  limit  the  extent  of  the  noun,  and 
those  which  modify  the  noun  by  pointing  out  a  quality.  What 
shall  we  call  the  first?  The  limiting  adjectives.  What  the 
second  ?  The  qualifying  adjectives.  What  distinction  did  we  find 
among  the  qualifying  adjectives  ?  We  found  that  some  of  them 
restrict  or  limit  the  extent  of  the  noun,  while  others  simply  de- 
scribe without  limiting.  What  qualifying  adjectives  would,  in 
general,  restrict?  Those  which  point  out  qualities  not  common 
to  the  whole  class.  Wliich  would  generally  not  restrict?  Those 
applying  to  the  wliole  class.  How,  then,  shall  we  define  the 
adjective  ? 

Formulation.  —  (1)  An  adjective  is  a  word  that  limits  or  modi- 
fies a  noun.  (2)  A  limiting  adjective  is  one  that  limits  the  extent 
of  a  noun,  without  showing  any  quality,     (3)  A  qualifying  adjec- 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


113 


Hve  is  one  that  modifies  the  noun  by  showing  a  quality,  sometimes 
restricting  the  extent  of  the  noun  and  sometimes  not. 
Show  this  in  a  scheme. 


The  Adjective 


(1.)    Limiting  ■ 


(2.)    Qualifying 


(1.)    From  all  to  some  or  one. 

(2.)  From  the  total  to  a  limited 
quantity,  or  from  a  limited  quantity 
to  a  smaller  quantity. 

f  (1.)    From  all  to 
some  or  one. 

(2.)  From  the 
total  to  a  lim- 
ited quantity, 
or  from  a  cer- 
tain quantity 
to  a  smaller 
quantity. 

(2. )  Non-Restrictive,  simply  point- 
ing out  a  quality,  without  limit- 
ing the  extent. 


(1.)    Restrictive 


(C.) 

(4)  Application.  —  In  the  following  exercise,  select  the  limiting 
and  the  qualifying  adjectives.  Show  which  of  the  latter  are  re- 
strictive. What  do  you  note  about  most  of  these  qualifying  adjec- 
tives ?  They  are  non-restrictive.  Why  is  this  ?  Because  poetry 
appeals  more  to  the  imagination  than  to  the  faculty  of  logical 
exactness.  How  would  a  judge  be  likely  to  use  his  qualifying 
adjectives  ? 

The  sun  that  brief  December  day 
Rose  cheerless  over  hills  of  gray, 
And,  darkly  circled,  gave  at  noon 
A  sadder  light  than  waning  moon. 
Slow  tracing  down  the  thickening  sky 
Its  mute  and  ominous  prophecy, 
A  portent  seeming  less  than  threat, 
It  sank  from  sight  before  it  set. 


114  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

A  chill  no  coat,  however  stout, 

Of  homespun  stuff  could  quite  shut  out, 

A  hard,  dull  bitterness  of  cold, 

That  checked,  mid-vein,  the  circling  race 

Of  life-blood  in  the  sharpened  face. 

The  coming  of  the  snow  storm  told. 

The  wind  blew  east ;  we  heard  the  roar 

Of  Ocean  on  his  wintry  shore, 

And  felt  the  strong  pulse  throbbing  there 

Beat  with  low  rhythm  our  inland  air. 

MATHEMATICS. 

§  53.     Number  lesson  for  the  first  grade. 

(This  lesson  is  taken  from  Rein's  "  Das  Erste  Schuljahr,"  and  is 
an  example  of  a  highly  elaborated  method.  The  children  have  learned 
a  story,  in  the  language-work,  about  a  poor  little  girl  whose  father 
and  mother  had  died;  and  the  number  of  persons  represented  forms 
the  starting-point  of  the  new  lesson.) 

THE    NUMBER    THREE. 

Aim.  —  We  will  find  out  how  many  persons  there  were  in  the 
house  of  the  little  Star  Dollar  Girl  while  her  father  and  mother 
were  still  alive. 

PART   I.  — ADDITION  AND   SUBTRACTION. 

(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  We  have  counted  many  things.  How  many 
walls  has  the  schoolroom?  How  many  windows?  How  many 
panes  has  the  lower  sash  ?  The  upper  ?  Both  ?  How  many  maps 
hang  on  the  wall  ? 

(2)  Presentation. —  (1)  The  three  persons. 

(a)  There  was  first  the  father  (1),  then  the  mother  (1  +  1  =  2), 
then  their  little  girl  (2  +  1  =  3).  How  many  people  were  there  ? 
Three.  Who  were  they  ?  Father,  mother,  and  child.  How  many 
are  father  and  mother  together?  Two.  How  many  are  father, 
mother,  and  child?  Three.  Count  them.  Father,  1 ;  mother,  2 ; 
child,  8  :  1,  2,  3. 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  115 

(b)  But  the  three  did  not  remain  together.  The  father  died 
and  was  buried.  How  many  were  left  in  the  house  ?  Now  the 
mother  died.  How  many  were  left  ?  Finally  the  little  girl  went 
away ;  then  there  was  no  one  left  in  the  house.  One  away  from 
3  leaves  2,  1  from  2  leaves  1,  1  from  1  leaves  nothing  (zero); 
3,  2,  1. 

(2)  Transition  from  persons  to  balls  upon  the  Abacus,  three 
balls  being  set  off  upon  a  horizontal  wire,  the  following  being 
said :  That  is  the  father,  that  is  the  mother,  that  is  the  child. 

(a)  Repetition  of  the  foregoing  exercise  in  connection  with  the 
balls :  — 

The  father  =  1  person ;  father  and  mother  =  2  persons ;  father 
and  mother  and  child  =  3  persons. 

Three  persons  —  1  person  =  2  persons ;  two  persons  —  1  per- 
son =  1  person ;  one  person  —  1  person  =  0  persons. 

BRIEFER. 

1  person,  2  persons,  3  persons;  3  persons,  2  persons,  1  person. 

STILL  BRIEFER. 

1,  2,  3;  3,  2,  1. 

(b)  Repeat  the  given  series,  using  ordinals :  — 

The  father  is  the  1st  person.      The  child  is  the  3d  person. 
The  mother  is  the  2d  person.     The  mother  is  the  2d  person. 
The  child  is  the  3d  person.        The  father  is  the  1st  person. 
Point  to  the  1st,  the  3d,  the  2d,  the  3d,  the  1st  person. 

(3)  Represent  the  three  members,  1,  2,  3,  with  sticks  arranged 
vertically,  and  run  through  the  series  forwards  and  backwards. 

(a)  The  father  is  1  (teacher  places  a  stick) ;  father  and  mother 
are  together  2  (teacher  places  a  second  stick  alongside  of  the 
first) ;  father,  mother,  and  child  are  together  3  (teacher  places 
another  stick). 

(b)  That  is  1  person  (pointing  to  the  1). 

These  are  2  persons. 
These  are  3  persons. 
These  together  are  3  persons. 
These  are  2  persons. 
This  is  1  person. 


116  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

This  is  one.  These  are  three. 

These  are  two.  These  are  two. 

These  are  three.  This  is  one. 

1,  2,  3.  3,  2,  1. 

(c)  After  1  stands  2.  Before  3  stands  2. 

After  2  stands  3.  Before  2  stands  1. 

(4)  Arrangement  of  lines  and  numbers  on  the  board  as  follows : 
(a)  Repetition  of  the  exercise  with  the  sticks. 

(6)  Drill  with  the  figm-es  1,  2,  3. 

(c)  Draw  the  three  lines  in  squares  upon  the  slate,  and  place 
the  respective  figures  beneath,  as  on  the  board. 

(d)  Write  the  figures  from  1  to  3,  and  from  3  to  1,  without  the 
aid  of  the  lines. 

(5)  Here  are  our  three  numbers  again :  1,  2,  3.  Change  the  1 
into  a  3.  What  must  you  place  alongside  of  it?  Make  a  3  from 
the  2.  What  must  now  be  placed  alongside  of  the  2?  How 
many  3's  have  you  now?  Point  to  the  first,  the  second,  the 
third. 

(a)  From  this  arrangement  is  gained :  — 

3=1+2  1+2=3 

3=2+1  2+1=3 

3=3  3=3 

Read  this  (teacher  points  to  the  first)  :  — 
3  is  2  +  1,  etc.     Point  to  2  +  1,  1  +  2. 
Who  can  say  all  the  sentences  (first  from  left  to  right,  then  the 
reverse)  ?    Practice  until  this  can  be  done  perfectly. 

(6)  Let  this  exercise  follow,  pupils  attentively  saying :  — 

3  —  1  =  2  3  —  3  =  0 

3—2=1  3-2=1 

3  —  3  =  0  3—1  =  2 

(c)  Writing  the  figures.  —  Teacher  writes  the  figures  on  the  board 
so  the  children  can  see  her.  Pupils  write  them  upon  the  board 
and  upon  their  slates,  then  pointing  to  the  figures  repeat  the  sen- 
tences, using  and  for  +,  and  less  for—. 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  117 

(B.) 

(3)  Transition  to  the  formulation  of  general  tinith. 
{a)  Represent  the  three  3's  with  sticks,  with  straight  marks, 
with  points,  with  rings.     Make  a  3  with  sticks  from  2  +  1,  from 
1  +  2. 
(6)  Make  a  3  with  points,  lines,  rings, 
(c)  Make  the  other  series  from  1  to  3. 

1+1=2  3—1=2 

2+1=3  2-1=1 

1+2=3  1—1=0 

Read  each  of  the  sentences. 

Formulation.  —  Systematic  placing  together  of  the  series 
learned,  orally  and  in  writing. 

(a)    1  2  3  3  2  1 

(6)     3  =  1  +  2  3—1  =  2 

3=2+1  3—2=1 

3=3  3-3=0 

(c)    1  +  1  =  2  3  —  1  =  2 

1+2=3  2—1=1 

2+1=3  1—1=0 

vO.) 

(4)  Application.  —  (a)  1  to  3 ;  from  3  to  1.  Place  sticks  along- 
side of  one  another  to  show  1,  2,  and  3. 

(6)  What  number  comes  next  after  1,  after  2  ?  what  number 
stands  before  3,  before  2  ?  What  number  stands  between  1  and 
3  ?    Where  does  1  stand  ?  2  ?  3  ? 

(c)  Name  3  boys,  3  girls.  Which  of  you  has  3  sisters  ?  or  2  ? 
only  1  brother  ?  1  sister  ? 

(c?)  Name  the  two  numbers  which  make  3,  another  two ;  three 
numbers  which  make  3 ;  one  number  which  makes  3. 

(e)  How  many  must  be  added  to  2  to  make  3  ?  How  many 
must  be  taken  from  3  that  2  may  be  left  ? 

(/)  Write  the  three  3's  in  the  squares. 

{g)  There  are  3  children  in  the  room.     One  goes  out,  how  many 


118  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

are  left?  Another  goes  out,  how  many  still  remain  ?  Two  come 
in  again,  how  many  are  there  now  ? 

(h)  You  have  given  to  the  poor.  If  you  had  3  cents  and  gave 
1  to  a  poor  man,  how  many  would  you  have  left  ?  If  from  3  cents 
you  give  away  2,  or  all  3,  how  many  would  you  have  ? 

German  verse  for  the  playground :  — 

Eins,  zwei,  drei,  Salz  auf  den  Speck, 

Butter  auf  dem  Brei,        Du  musst  weg.  —  Simrock. 

Part  II.  —  Multiplication  and  Division  are  developed  in 
a  similar  manner. 

§  54.     Foui'th  grade  Arithmetic  lesson. 

TO  MULTIPLY  A  FRACTION  BY  AN  INTEGER. 
(A.) 
(1)  Preparation.  —  How  does  a  common  fraction  arise  ?  By 
dividing  a  unit  into  a  number  of  equal  parts,  one  or  more  of  these 
parts  being  considered  as  a  fractional  number.  How  is  the  frac- 
tion written  ?  What  does  the  number  below  the  line  show  ?  The 
number  of  parts  into  which  the  unit  has  been  divided.  If  the 
size  of  the  unit  is  known,  what  does  the  denominator  also  show  ? 
The  size  of  each  of  the  equal  parts.  Illustrate.  If  one  dollar  is 
divided  into  ten  equal  parts,  each  part  has  the  value  of  J^  of  a 
dollar,  or  ten  cents.  Can  the  relative  size  of  the  parts  be  known, 
even  though  the  size  of  the  unit  is  not  known  ?  Yes :  ^  is  twice 
as  large  as  \  of  the  same  unit ;  ^  is  3  times  as  large  as  \  of  the 
same  unit,  or  5  times  as  large  as  Jg-  of  the  same  unit.  What  is 
the  relation  between  the  size  of  the  parts  and  the  number  of  parts 
into  which  the  unit  is  divided  ?  The  larger  the  number  of  parts 
into  which  a  unit  is  divided,  the  smaller  their  size  must  be. 
What  does  the  numerator  show  ?  The  number  of  parts  or  frac- 
tional units  in  the  fraction.  What  effect,  does  it  have  on  the  value 
of  a  fraction  to  increase  the  number  of  parts,  or  fractional  units  ? 
It  increases  the  value  of  the  fraction.  Illustrate.  ^  of  a  given 
unit  is  twice  as  great  in  value  as  ^  of  the  same  unit. 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS,  119 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Multiply  f  by  2  ;  i.e.,  how  much  are  2  3's 
of  sevenths  ?  Take  two  pieces  of  paper  of  the  same  size. 
Divide  both  into  7ths.  Remove  four  sevenths  fi'om  each.  How 
much  of  each  is  left?  ^.  How  many  7ths  are  there  in  what 
remains  of  the  two  original  papers  ?  There  are  six  7ths.  Show 
this  by  figures.  |  X  2  =  ^.  What  appears  to  have  been  done 
to  the  numerator  of  the  fraction?     It  has  been  multiplied  by  2. 

Multiply  I  by  2.  Take  again  two  papers  of  equal  size  and 
fold  them  into  8ths.  Reject  |  of  each.  How  many  8ths  are  left 
in  each  paper  ?  |.  How  many  8ths  in  both  pieces  ?  There  are 
six  Sths.  Make  half  as  man}'  parts  out  of  these  |.  How  can 
you  do  this  ?  By  making  the  size  of  the  parts  twice  as  great ; 
i.e.,  by  making  the  parts  4ths.  How  many  4ths  are  there  in  |? 
There  are  3.     Show  this  by  figures.     |  =  f ,  hence  |  X  2  ^=  f . 

(B.) 

(3)  Derivation  of  a  rule. 

We  found  that  f  X  2  =  ^;  i.e.,  that  this  fraction  was  multi- 
plied by  2  by  multiplying  the  numerator  by  2.  Suppose  the  mul- 
tiplier had  been  3?  4?  6?  In  any  case  the  fraction  is  multi- 
plied by  multiplying  the  numerator,  since  if  the  number  of  parts, 
or  fractional  units  is  multiplied,  the  value  of  the  fraction  is 
multiplied. 

Formulation.  —  A  fraction  is  multiplied  by  an  integer  by 
multiplying  its  numerator  by  the  integer. 

We  found  further,  that  |  is  multiplied  by  2  by  dividing  the 
denominator  by  2.  Suppose  the  multiplier  had  been  4?  Could 
I  be  multiplied  by  4  by  dividing  the  denominator  by  4  ?  Yes ; 
for  the  number  of  parts  in  the  resulting  fraction  would  be  un- 
changed, but  they  would  now  be  four  times  as  large  as  at  first, 
since  the  number  of  parts  into  which  the  unit  is  divided  is  only 
one-fourth  as  gi*eat  as  before.     Make  a  rule. 

Formulation.  —  Ajraction  may  be  multiplied  by  an  integer  by 
dividing  the  denominator  by  the  integer. 

Will  the  denominator  always  contain  the  multiplier  an  mtegral 
number  of  times  ?  No.  What  must  then  be  done  ?  The  nu- 
merator must  be  multiplied.     Which  is  preferable  ?    It  is  better 


120  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

to  divide  the  denominator  when  this  can  be  done,  because  the 
product  is  in  lower  terms  th^m  it  is  when  the  numerator  is  multi- 
plied.    Put  these  two  rules  together  in  a  good  way. 

Formulation.  —  To  multiply  a  fraction  by  an  integer,  divide 
the  denominator  if  it  contains  the  multiplier  as  a  factor,  otherwise 
multiply  the  numerator. 

(C.) 

(4)  Application.  —  Practice  upon  the  abstract  and  concrete 
problems  given  in  the  text-book. 


READING. 

§  55.  In  order  not  to  multiply  forms  needlessly,  the 
following  general  outline  is  selected  from  Dr.  Frick, 
Lehrproben  und  Lehrgdnge,  6  Heft,  pp.  110-113. 

TREATMENT  OF  A  READING  LESSON  (poetry  or  prose) 

IN   LOWER  AND   MIDDLE  CLASSES. 

(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  (1)  Announcement  of  purpose  of  lesson. 
(2)  Introductory  discussion  (question  and  answer)  designed  to 
awaken  the  expectation  of  the  pupil,  and  to  prepare  his  mind  for 
the  new  lesson  by  preparing  connecting  points  with  his  experi- 
ence and  present  knowledge. 

(2)  Presentation. —  (1)  Expressive  reading  by  the  teacher, 
who  marks  the  chief  natural  subdivisions  by  short  pauses.  Get 
first  a  general  view  of  the  whole.  (2)  Consideration  of  the 
smaller  sections.  Proceed  even  here  from  the  general  idea  of  the 
whole  situation  to  each  smaller  unity.  Fix  this  general  view  by 
temporary  development  of  titles  which  sum  up  briefly  the  chief 
content  of  each  subdivision.  Follow  this  by  closer  treatment  of 
each  division.  For  example,  give  brief  explanations  of  words 
and  thoughts  ;  discover  and  clearly  grasp  the  various  elements  of 
the  selection  (time,  place,  personalities  and  their  increase  in 
number,  actions  and  their  development) . 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  121 

(B.) 

(3)  Elaboration. —  (1)  In  regard  to  content  (thought):  re- 
view of  the  articulation  (number  of  members  and  their  relation 
to  one  another)  ;  of  the  disposition  and  development  of  the  whole : 
of  the  growth  of  mental  pictures  for  the  observation ;  of  judg- 
ments (of  aisthetical  and  ethical  kind) .  Means ;  questions  whose 
tendency  is  to  concentrate  the  mind  of  the  pupils  upon  the  chief 
points  of  a  thought- whole  (called  concentration  questions). 
Result :  a  clear  conception  of  the  whole. 

(2)  In  regard  to  form :  Review  of  what  is  characteristic  in 
language  (distinction  between  poetic  and  prosaic,  figurative  and 
literal  expression) ,  in  meter,  in  rhetorical  figures  of  speech. 

(C.) 

(4)  Application.  —  Practical  exercises  to  gain  and  show  an 
understanding  and  mastery  of  what  has  been  attempted:  (1) 
Reading  by  the  pupils,  careful  drill  (alone,  with  the  teacher,  in 
chorus).  (2)  Speaking:  systematic  reproduction  of  the  various 
points  (series  building)  ;  reproduction  of  the  headings,  and,  in 
connection,  the  whole  disposition  of  the  matter ;  reproduction  of 
the  content  of  the  smaller  section  in  connected  narrative;  free 
reproduction  of  the  whole  content,  with  especial  regard  to  what 
has  been  added  during  the  study  of  the  selection.  (3)  Writing : 
written  elaboration  of  certain  definite  points  in  the  class,  or  as 
compositions  for  home  work,  after  the  content  has  been  gained 
through  the  instruction,  and  carefully  developed  by  the  labor  of 
all.     (4)  Memorizing  exercises. 

§  56.     Memorizing  in  the  lower  classes. 

GENERAL  PLAN. 

(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  Question  and  answer  to  awaken  interest, 
clear  up  unfamiliar  words  and  ideas. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  (1)  Expressive  reading  of  the  whole  by 
the  teacher,  that  the  pupils  may  grasp  the  idea  of  the  piece  as  a 
whole.     (2)  Discussion  of  the  various  sections  of  the  selection  in 


122  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

order,  so  that  the  pupils  may  get  a  perfect  understanding  of  the 
thought.  (3)  The  formation  of  the  series :  (a)  The  longer  series 
should  consist  of  catch-words  which  show  the  logical  order  of  the 
thought,  and  the  whole  development:  they  may  pertain  to  the 
personalities,  to  place  and  time,  to  actions,  etc.  (6)  The  shorter 
series  should  be  those  of  a  more  mechanical  nature,  as  rhyme, 
rhythm,  alliteration,  regularly  recurring  forms,  etc. 

(B.) 

(3)  In  memorizing  exercises,  the  main  point  to  arrive  at  is  the 
perfect,  intelligent  memorizing  of  the  whole  selection.  Hence 
this  is  the  stage  at  which  all  that  has  been  learned  should  be  gath- 
ered up,  knit  firmly  together,  and  reproduced  as  a  whole. 

(C.) 

(4)  Application,  or  Drill.  — Repeated  repetition  of  the  whole, 
and  its  various  series,  that  the  selection  may  be  remembered  to 
the  last  day  of  life.  It  is  hardly  needful  to  remark  that  nothing 
trivial,  light,  or  of  transitory  interest  is  worthy  of  such  treatment 
as  is  here  indicated.  What  is  learned  in  this  way  is  to  be  learned 
forever. 

§  57.     Model  Exercise. 

EXCELSIOR. 

1.  The  shades  of  night  were  falling  fast. 
As  through  an  Alpine  village  passed 
A  youth,  who  bore,  'mid  snow  and  ice, 
A  banner  with  the  strange  device, 

Excelsior ! 

2.  His  brow  was  sad :  his  eye  beneath 
Flashed  like  a  falchion  from  its  sheath, 
And  like  a  silver  clarion  rung 

The  accents  of  that  unknown  tongue, 
Excelsior ! 


PRACTICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS.  123 

3.  In  happy  homes  he  saw  the  light 

Of  household  fires  gleam  warm  and  bright ; 
Above,  the  spectral  glaciers  shone, 
And  from  his  lips  escaped  a  groan, 
Excelsior ! 

4.  *'  Try  not  the  pass ! "  the  old  man  said ; 
'•  Dark  lowers  the  tempest  overhead. 
The  roaring  torrent  is  deep  and  wide  ! " 
And  loud  that  clarion  voice  replied, 

Excelsior ! 

5.  "  O  stay ! "  the  maiden  said,  "  and  rest 
Thy  weary  head  upon  this  breast." 

A  tear  stood  in  his  bright  blue  eye, 
But  still  he  answered  with  a  sigh, 
Excelsior ! 

6.  *•  Beware  the  pine-tree's  withered  branch  ! 
Beware  the  awful  avalanche !  " 

This  was  the  peasant's  last  good-night. 
A  voice  replied,  far  up  the  height, 
Excelsior ! 

7.  At  break  of  day,  as  heavenward 
The  pious  monks  of  Samt  Bernard 
Uttered  the  oft-rejDeated  prayer, 

A  voice  cried  through  the  startled  air, 
Excelsior ! 

8.  A  traveler,  by  the  faithful  hound, 
Half-buried  in  the  snow  was  found. 
Still  grasping  in  his  hand  of  ice 
That  banner  with  the  strange  device, 

Excelsior ! 


124  TUE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOD. 

9.  There  in  the  twilight  cold  and  gray. 
Lifeless,  but  beautiful,  he  lay ; 
And  from  the  sky,  serene  and  far, 
A  voice  fell  like  a  falling  star, 
Excelsior ! 

(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  Introductory  remarks  and  questions.  Take 
your  maps  and  turn  to  the  map  of  Europe.  Do  you  see  the  map 
of  any  country  which  is  full  of  mountains  ?  What  are  the  highest 
mountains  in  Europe  called?  The  Alps.  Point  them  out.  Do 
people  live  among  them?  Yes,  in  villages.  Is  the  weather 
always  bright  and  warm  in  the  mountains  ?  No :  some  of  the 
mountains  are  always  covered  with  snow.  What  are  often  found 
between  the  mountains  where  snow  has  melted  and  then  frozen  ? 
Find  the  name  in  your  books.  Who  has  it?  Glaciers.  Who 
live  on  the  tops  of  these  mountains  ?  Monks.  Why  ?  How  do 
they  find  belated  and  storm-driven  travelers  ?  With  dogs.  How 
do  people  get  through  the  mountains?  Through  passes.  What 
sometimes  happens  here  ?  The  snow  slides  down  the  mountain- 
side. What  is  this  called?  The  avalanche.  Are  these  moun- 
tains very  high  ?  Might  one  continue  to  climb  higher  and  higher 
for  a  long  time  ?  There  is  a  Latin  word  which  means  higher. 
It  is  Excelsior.  All  pronounce  it.  We  will  now  read  and  commit 
to  memory  a  poem  by  Longfellow,  called  Excelsior. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Teacher  reads  the  whole  poem  expres- 
sively. Separate  the  poem  into  three  equal  parts  for  convenience. 
How  does  each  stanza  end  ? 

First  Part.  —  What  is  meant  by  the  shades  of  night9  From 
what  does  the  word  Alpine  come  ?  What  did  the  youth  carry  ? 
What  is  a  device?  Where  was  it  written?  The  next  stanza 
tells  how  he  looked  and  what  he  did.  What  is  sl  falchion,  a  silver 
clarion  ?  Why  unknown  tongue  ?  What  kind  of  a  word  is  Excel- 
sior') The  next  stanza  tells  what  the  youth  saw:  (a)  in  the  vil- 
lage ;  (h)  in  the  mountains.  Why  spectral  ^  Why  did  a  groan 
come  from  his  lips  ?     Must  he  be  true  to  the  motto  he  carries  ? 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  125 

What  does  this  mean  ?  What  does  the  first  stanza  show  ?  Where 
and  when  the  youth  passed  with  his  banner.  The  second?  How 
he  looked  and  what  he  said.  What  did  he  say  ?  Excelsior.  What 
does  the  third  stanza  say  ?  It  tells  what  he  saw  in  the  village  and 
on  the  mountain ;  that  he  groaned  when  he  thought  he  must  go 
higher.  Let  us  read  these  stanzas  and  then  repeat  them.  What 
rhymes  do  you  notice  in  the  first  ?  Fast,  passed ;  ice,  device.  In 
the  second  ?  Beneath,  sheath ;  rung,  tongue.  In  the  third  ?  Light, 
bright ;  shone,  groan.  In  the  second,  what  is  contrasted  with  the 
sad  brow?  The  flashing  eye.  In  the  third,  what  is  contrasted 
with  the  firelight  of  the  homes?  The  shining  of  the  spectral 
glaciers.     Repeat  the  stanzas  again. 

Second  Part.  — Who  speaks  to  the  youth  in  the  fourth  stanza? 
In  the  fifth  ?  In  the  sixth  ?  Of  what  does  the  old  man  warn 
him  ?  The  tempest  overhead,  and  the  roaring  torrent.  What 
did  the  clarion  voice  reply  ? 

W^hat  did  the  maiden  invite  him  to  do  ?  To  stay  and  rest  his 
head  upon  her  breast.  Why  was  there  a  tear  in  his  eye?  Why 
did  he  answer  with  a  sigh  ?     What  was  the  peasant's  warning  ? 

*'  Beware  the  pine-tree's  withered  branch, 
Beware  the  awful  avalanche !  " 

How  could  the  withered  pine-tree's  branch  harm  him  ?  How  the 
avalanche?  What  time  was  it  now?  What  are  the  peasant's 
words  called  ?  The  peasant's  last  good-night.  Wliere  was  the 
youth  ?  Far  up  the  height.  What  did  tlie  voice  reply  ?  Excel- 
sior. What  are  the  rhymes  in  the  fourth  ?  Said,  overhead ;  wide, 
replied.  Read  the  stanza.  Now  repeat  it  from  memory.  What 
are  the  rhymes  in  the  fifth  ?  Rest,  breast ;  eye,  sigh.  Read  care- 
fully. Now  repeat.  What  are  the  rhymes  of  the  sixth  ?  Branch, 
avalanche ;  good-night,  height.    Read.    Repeat  from  memory. 

Third  Part.  —  Where  did  the  j^outh  go  when  he  left  the  vil- 
lage ?  Higher  up  the  mountain.  To  whom  would  he  come  last  ? 
The  pious  monks  of  Saint  Bernard,  Which  stanza  tells  of  this  ? 
What  does  the  eighth  describe?  How  he  was  found  by  the  faith- 
ful dog,  with  the  banner  still  in  his  hand.     What  does  the  last 


126  THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  METHOB. 

stanza  describe  ?  How  he  lay,  beautiful,  but  lifeless,  in  the  twi- 
light cold  and  gray,  anti  how  a  voice  fell  from  the  sky,  as  if  his 
spirit  had  gone  still  higher,  and  was  still  crying  Excelsior. 
Teacher  reads  the  seventh,  and  the  pupils  repeat  after  him. 
Note  the  rhymes.  Repeat  from  memory.  So  of  the  last  two 
stanzas. 

(B.) 

(3)  Grasping  the  -whole  in  memory.  —  What  do  the  first  three 
stanzas  show?  The  youth,  how  he  looked,  what  he  saw.  The 
second  three  ?  What  the  old  man  said,  what  the  maiden  said, 
what  the  peasant  said.  The  last  three  ?  The  startling  of  the 
pious  monks,  the  finding  of  the  traveler  by  the  faithful  hound, 
the  lifeless  but  beautiful  form,  and  the  voice  falling  from  the 
sky.  What  is  the  series  of  persons  ?  The  youth,  the  old  man, 
the  maiden,  the  peasants,  the  monks.  Time  and  place?  The 
evening,  the  Alpine  village,  the  pass,  the  height.  What  reply 
was  made  to  every  warning  or  entreaty?  Excelsior.  The  warn- 
ings? Tempest,  torrent,  the  pine-tree's  withered  branch,  the 
avalanche,  llepeat  the  first  section,  the  second,  the  third.  Re- 
peat the  whole  poem. 

(O.) 

(4)  Drill.  —  Continue  the  repetitions  of  the  sections  and  of  the 
whole,  until  each  child  can  give  the  entire  poem  Avithout  hesita- 
tion. When  the  pupil  hesitates,  recall  or  form  some  new  asso- 
ciation, either  rational  or  mechanical,  which  will  enable  him  to 
master  this  part.  If,  for  instance,  he  hesitates  in  the  middle 
of  the  third  stanza,  call  attention  to  the  contrast  between  the 
bright  fires  in  the  village  and  the  spectral  shining  of  the  glaciers 
above. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

§  58.  Geography  founded  on  actual  observation  by  the 
children. 

(This  work  is  taken  from  Dr.  Rein's  '*Das  Dritte  Schuljahr." 
These  excursions  are  actually  made  by  the  pupils.  It  was  the 
author's  privilege  to   accompany  the  teachers   of    the   Normal 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  127 

School  at  Eisenach  on  an  excursion  with  the  children  of  the 
practice-school,  and  to  see  also  the  practical  working  out  in  the 
schoolroom  of  the  ideas  gained.  There  is  no  question  as  to 
the  immense  practical  benefit  of  this  kind  of  work.  It  is  proba- 
ble that  not  many  American  teachers  will  think  it  possible  for 
them  to  spend  a  few  hours  with  their  schools  upon  excursions  of 
this  kind ;  but  it  is  in  the  hope  that  some  may  do  so,  that  these 
general  directions  are  inserted.) 

VIEW  OF  THE  METHOD-WHOLES. 

Summer  Excursions. 

1.  The  tenltory  of  the  Horsal. 

2.  The  Wartburg  and  Metilstein. 

3.  TheWerra. 

4.  The  Forest  of  Thuringia. 

5.  TheRhon. 

6.  The  Saale. 

7.  The  Unstrut. 

8.  The  land  between  the  Forest  of  Thuringia  and  the  Hartz 
Mountains. 

EXCURSIONS. 

FIRST   YEAR. 

1.  In  the  fields  as  far  as  Amrichen  Bridge. 

2.  In  the  woods. 

3.  Along  the  Horsal. 

4.  Visit  to  the  castle. 

6.  Within  the  city  (Jacobsplan,  Eichel's  House,  The  Black 
Well,  George  Street,  Half  Moon,  Market,  Castle). 

6.  Upon  the  Goldberg,  etc.,  making  ten  excursions  during  the 
first  year. 

SECOND   YEAR. 

Eleven  excursions  about  Eisenach,  in  woods  and  valleys,  along 
rivers  and  about  ponds,  on  the  hills  and  low  mountains. 

THIRD   YEAR. 

Fourteen  excursions  about  the  neighboring  country,  sometimes 
spending  an  entire  day  upon  a  longer  trip. 


128  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

GENERAL  PLAN. 
(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  The  basis  for  each  method-whole  is  an 
excursion  taken  with  a  fixed  and  definite  purpose.  Without  this 
excursion,  the  early  geography  is  suspended  in  the  air ;  without 
a  suificient  basis  in  observation,  the  geography  degenerates  into 
the  veriest  verbalism.  Hence  the  demand  :  as  far  as  possible  the 
geographical  instruction  must  be  based  upon  excursions. 

Before  one  of  these  is  taken,  the  teacher  should  hold  a  prepara- 
tory talk  with  the  children.  They  must  tell  what  they  can  about 
the  way  they  are  going  to  take.  They  will  get  much  of  it  wrong, 
and  many  things  they  will  know  nothing  about.  The  teacher 
will  note  all  these  points  carefully,  that  he  may  be  able  to  call 
their  attention  to  that  which  they  have  poorly  seen,  or  not  ob- 
served at  all.  Such  a  preparatory  talk  will  impel  them  to  try  to 
fill  up  the  gaps  in  their  knowledge,  and  to  keep  their  eyes  wide 
open.  Seeing  and  observing  need  to  be  taught  as  well  as  any- 
thing else,  for  children,  especially  those  of  the  city,  are  often  only 
too  blind  to  what  nature  teaches. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  (1)  Instruction  in  the  open  air.  The 
start  is  made.  By  means  of  the  preparatory  talk,  the  teacher 
knows  to  what  he  must  call  their  attention,  what  he  must  show 
them  and  explain  to  them.  He  has  previously  measured  the  dis- 
tance, and  divided  it  appropriately.  The  children  must  now  esti- 
mate the  distances  and  learn  them.  In  addition,  little  problems 
as  to  place  and  relation  may  be  suggested,  and  can  be  drawn  by 
the  teacher  upon  the  sand  or  the  ground,  as  may  be  convenient. 
This  has  the  advantage  of  showing  the  children  how  the  geo- 
graphical position  of  objects  of  the  neighborhood  may  be  repre- 
sented upon  a  flat  surface.  They  can  also  easily  compare  draw- 
ing and  thing,  and  govern  the  drawing  by  the  reality. 

(2)  Study  in  the  school.  (a)  It  the  foundation  is  thus  laid, 
the  elaboration  may  begin  in  the  school.  It  is  best  to  take  a  rapid 
review,  in  order  to  freshen  the  mind  regarding  what  has  been 
gained.  This  may  be  done  by  having  a  pupil  draw  upon  the 
board  from  memory ;  another  may,  in  connection  with  this,  give 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  129 

an  oral  description.  If  the  use  of  the  map  is  understood,  the 
journey  may  be  reviewed  there,  the  children  pointing  out  the 
way  and  explaining.  "  Pumping"  is  here  out  of  order ;  for  what 
has  been  once  brought  together  and  fixed  by  the  children  must 
not  be  torn  up  by  miscellaneous  questioning.  If  the  drawing  is 
completed  and  briefly  explained,  —  the  teacher  remains  mostly 
passive,  only  interfering  when  a  correction  is  needed,  —  the  in- 
struction upon  a  new  lesson  may  be  begun. 

(b)  One  teacher  requires  the  pupil  systematically  to  describe 
and  tell  about  the  excursion  they  have  taken.  The  child  must 
not  be  interrupted  in  his  recital,  even  if  he  makes  an  omission,  or 
gets  something  wrong.  He  must  be  allowed  to  tell,  in  a  quiet 
and  connected  manner,  all  that  he  has  seen  and  learned  upon  the 
trip.  The  closer  the  observation  was,  the  better  will  the  descrip- 
tion be.  In  these  first  general  impressions  there  is  always  some- 
thino'  lackino;,  somethino^  wron^.  There  must,  therefore,  be  a 
correcting  and  supplementing  of  this  general  impression.  There 
is  a  7ieed  for  correcting  errors  now.  It  would  be  better,  of  course, 
could  the  child  be  led  again  directly  to  nature,  but  this  could 
rarely  be  done.  Besides  that,  the  child  must  be  taught  to  under- 
stand and  to  rely  upon  the  map.  Geographical  instruction  must, 
above  all,  stimulate  the  creation  of  vivid  mental  pictures,  which 
shall  come  close  to  the  reality.  The  teacher  must  in  no  case 
stop  with  the  drilling  in  of  names  and  numbers,  or  of  maps.  In 
the  latter  case  we  talk  rightly  of  "paper-geography." 

To  awaken  and  to  form  pictures  of  the  imagination  must  be  con- 
sidered the  great  purpose  of  geography,  however  difficult  the  task 
may  be. 

There  are  two  means  open  to  the  teacher,  of  clearing  up  the 
child's  first  imperfect  general  conceptions.  (1)  Drawing  upon  ' 
the  board ;  (2)  The  wall  map.  The  first  has  more  interest  to  tlie 
child,  for  he  can  see  it  made,  help  with  suggestions,  and  it  does 
not  confuse  the  view  by  a  multitude  of  other  things.  It  is,  how- 
ever, not  exact,  like  the  printed  map.  Pupils  must  gradually  be 
taught  to  use  the  map,  though  at  first  the  board  drawing  is  better 
for  them.  When  the  map  can  be  used,  it  must  be  employed  to 
correct  and  supplement  the  child's  first  general  view  of  the  topic. 


130  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

Interest  must  be  aroused  by  informal  discussion  of  the  various 
points.  With  a  lively  interest,  the  impression  of  the  facts  upon 
their  minds  is  an  easy  matter. 

Besides  this,  there  are  various  exercises  which  serve  to  give 
the  mind  a  sure  hold  upon  the  new  matter.  Variety  is  here  help- 
ful.    The  drill  may  be  conducted  in  various  ways  :  — 

(1)  The  teacher  points  on  the  map  according  to  the  series,  — 
i.e.,  in  the  order  in  which  the  ideas  were  learned,  —  and  ques- 
tions.    Difficult  names  he  writes  upon  the  board. 

(2)  Teacher  points  and  questions  in  the  reverse  order. 

(3)  A  pupil  points  irregularly,  and  another  answers,  and  the 
reverse. 

(4)  A  pupil  points  and  speaks  at  the  same  time. 

(5)  Recitation  in  chorus  is  often  helpful  in  fixing  points. 

(c)  Now  follows  the  drawing  of  the  new  matter  by  the  chil- 
dren, also  the  isolation  of  individual  geographical  objects,  which 
is  necessary  for  a  close  and  deep  observation  and  apprehension. 
The  drawing  is  first  made  upon  the  blackboard ;  the  others  assist, 
correcting  by  word  and  deed.  The  wall  map  may  also  be  at  hand 
as  a  guide. 

(d)  The  stage  of  presentation  closes  with  a  corrected  and  clear 
apprehension  of  the  whole  on  the  part  of  the  children.  The  new 
matter  has  become  clear  to  them.  They  must  now  be  able  to 
spare  the  wall  map,  and  also  the  drawings  on  the  board. 

(B.) 
(3)  Insight.  —  Comparison.  —  Formulation. 

Modern  geography  is  based  upon  comparison,  so  that  associa- 
tion is  an  important  factor  in  this  subject.  Comparisons  are  in- 
stituted between  the  old  and  the  new  material  of  instruction. 
These  relate  to  the  direction,  form,  magnitude,  etc.,  of  the  geo- 
graphical objects.  By  means  of  these  exercises,  the  notions  of  a 
system  become  clear.  In  addition,  the  noting  of  antitheses  and 
contrasts  is  hel^^ful ;  also,  fixed  series  are  formed,  which,  contin- 
ually growing,  finally  end  in  a  system. 

In  the  formulation,  or  systematic  exhibition  of  what  has  been 
learned,  (1)  The  respective  form  images  are  to  be  drawn  by  the 


PRACTICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS.  131 

children  in  a  geographical  blank-book.  In  this  way  the  pupil 
elaborates  his  own  maps.  In  the  third  grade,  the  maps  should 
be  somewhat  exact.  It  will  assist  if  the  board  maps  are  drawn 
on  a  surface  marked  off  into  squares,  and  if  the  blank-books  are 
likewise  ruled.  Self-made  atlases  are  the  first  step  to  the  printed 
maps,  which  the  pupil  should  not  have  in  hand  until  the  upper 
classes  are  reached. 

(2)  Catch-words  may  also  be  written  in  the  books  to  assist  the 
memory. 

(C.) 
(4)  Application.  —  Drill. —  This  stage  should  show  that  the 
new  general  truths,  learned  in  the  stage  of  presentation  and 
summed  up  in  B,  are  completely  mastered,  in  themselves  and  in 
relation  to  what  was  formerly  learned.  The  following  exercises 
will  i^rove  helpful  here  :  — 

(1)  Drawing  of  the  sketch  from  memory,  eventually  in  con- 
nection with  what  has  been  learned  before.     The  geographical, 
forms  must  have  become  so  fixed  in  the  pupil's  mind  that  he  is 
able  to  represent  them  by  lines.    Drawing  is  therefore  the  "  Writ- 
ing of  geographical  thoughts."     (Delitsch.) 

(2)  Imaginary  journeys. 

(3)  Profile  drawings. 

(4)  It  is  an  excellent  means  to  work  out  the  given  geographical 
tract  in  sand,  or  in  clay. 

(5)  Explanation  of  pictures  by  the  children  (Miinchener  und 
Stuttgarter  Bilderbogen  ;  Brdunlich  tend  Schmidt,  Aus  aller  Herrn 
Lander,  Leipzig;  Oeographische  Characterbilder  vo7i  Holzel  in 
Wien;  Gcographische^Bildcrtafel  von  Ilirl  in  Breslati ;  die  Leh- 
mannschcn  Bilder;  die  landschaftlichen  Characterbilder  von  Kirch- 
hoff  und  Supau,  Kasscl ;  etc.). 

(6)  Reading  of  descriptions  in  reading-books ;  the  writing  of 
descriptions. 


132  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  METHOD. 

HISTORY. 

§  59.  Course  of  an  oral  history  lesson  in  middle  and 
lower  classes.  (Dr.  Frick,  Lehrprohen  und  Lehrgdnge,  Heft 
6,  p.  106.) 

(A.) 

(1)  Preparation.  —  First  observation  (inner)  and  apprehen- 
sion. 

(a)  Connection  with  former  lessons  by  means  of  questions 
which,  reaching  back,  gather  up  those  points  which  will  serve  as 
transition  to,  and  i3reparation  for,  the  new  lesson. 

(6)  Announcement  of  the  purpose  of  the  lesson. 

(c)  Introductory  remarks.  These  remarks  take  their  rise  from 
the  pupiPs  world  of  experience.  Suppose,  for  instance,  the 
pupils  know  the  story  of  the  Argonautic  expedition,  and  now  come 
to  the  journey  of  Columbus.  It  is  evident  that  to  call  the  former 
to  mind  will  increase  the  interest  in  the  latter.  The  effort  must 
always  be  to  bridge  the  gulf  which  separates  the  distant  deed  and 
its  foreign  world  from  the  present  and  the  experience  of  the 
pupil. 

(2)  Presentation.  —  Concrete,  vivid  nari'ation  by  the  teacher, 
of  the  elements  of  historical  life,  the  stao-es  of  the  action,  and  what 
is  characteristic  in  them.  These  things  must  be  brought  clearly 
to  view  in  separate  subdivisions  (method- wholes) ,  that  there  may 
be  a  clear  apprehension  of  the  lesson  as  a  whole.  For  this  pur- 
pose it  is  well,  at  the  close  of  each  section,  for  the  teacher,  assisted 
by  the  pupils,  to  sum  up  the  chief  contents  of  the  section  in  con- 
densed headings,  which  are  to  be  drilled  upon  both  now  and  after- 
wards. It  will  be  well  to  have  the  pupils  record  these  in  their 
note-books. 

(B.) 

(3)  For  gaining  a  deeper  insight.  —  (a)  Placing  together  of 
all  the  written  headings,  as  well  as  the  teacher's  whole  plan  of  the 
lesson,  as  a  guide  to  the  impression  upon  the  mind  of  all  that  is 
to  be  held. 


PRACTICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS.  133 

(b)  Fuller  apprehension  of  the  individual  facts  by  comparing, 
uniting,  and  grouping  the  various  elements  of  the  given  narration. 

(c)  Bringing  out  of  the  main  points  by  concentration  questions. 
An  example  from  the  seventh  grade  —  Greater  method-whole  — 
The  Trojan  War.  Separation  into  smaller  unities :  (1)  The  inner 
cause,  outer  occasion,  participants  in  the  war,  departure  and  land- 
ing. (2)  The  battles  about  Troy.  (3)  The  capture  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  city.  Consequences.  Suppose  the  story  of  the  bat- 
tles has  been  given.  We  should  ask  at  the  close  of  the  narration 
concerning  the  following  points :  (1)  The  seat  of  war  (kingdom 
and  city  of  Priam ;  plain  of  Scamander,  picture  of  the  city)  ;  (2) 
Actors.  Since  the  Achaian  leaders  are  known  from  the  first  sec- 
tion, we  have  now  to  do  with  the  increase  to  the  Trojan  side, 
Priam  and  his  house.  Parallels :  Priam  and  Agamemnon.  (Dif- 
ference :  Priam  the  ruler  of  a  large  empire,  and  the  patriarchal 
head  of  a  royal  family ;  Agamemnon  the  military  leader  of  nu- 
merous tribes).  Hector  and  Achilles,  Menelaus  and  Paris,  Helen 
and  Chalcas,  etc.  (3)  Actions.  Pictures  of  the  war.  General 
engagements  and  duels.  Groups  of  the  latter  (Battle  of  Paris 
and  Menelaus,  Ajax  and  Hector,  Achilles  and  Hector).  Pictures 
of  cessation  from  war:  Councils  (quarrel  of  Agamemnon  and 
Achilles).  Ambassadors.  Parting  of  Hector  and  Andromache, 
etc.  Special  increase  of  new  and  unknown  elements  of  historical 
life,  of  ethical  character  (lamentable  fate  of  Hector),  etc. 

(C.) 

(4)  Practice.  —  Drill.  —  Application.  —  Connected  recitation 
of  individual  points  (series  formation).  Repetition  of  the  con- 
densed headings  in  connection.  Recitation  of  smaller  sections 
in  full  and  connected  form,  —  all  to  show  an  understanding  of 
tlie  whole,  which  is  now  deepened  and  made  clear. 


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BOSTON,   NtW  YORK,  AND  CHICAGO. 


my  should  Teachers '^^fSSZ 

/Ronniioo  "'^  "^^"  *^^"  stand  high  in  any  profession  who   is  not  familiar 
'      oamuati  ^nfj  Us  history  and  literature. 

0      Ronniico  '*  saves  time  which  might  be  wasted  in  truing  experiments  that 
^.    ucuuuoc  fjaue  already  been  tried  and  found  useless. 

Compayr6'S  History  of  Pedagogy.    "  The  best  and  most  comprehensive 

history  of  Education  in  English."  —  Dr.  G.  S.  Hall i^i-7S 

Coinpayr6's  Lectures  on  Teaching.    "  The  best  book  in  existence  on 

the  theory  and  practice  of  Education."  —  Supt.  MacAllister,  Philadelphia.    .         1.75 

Gill's  System  of  Education.     "It  treats  ably  of  the  Lancaster  and  Bell 

movement  in  Education  —  a  verj-^  important  phase."  —  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris.      .        1.25 

Radestock'S  Habit  in  Education.  "  It  will  prove  a  rare  '  find  '  to  teach- 
ers who  are  seeking  to  ground  themselves  in  the  philosophy  of  their  art."  — 
E.  H.  Russell,  Worcester  Normal 0.75 

Rousseau's  Emile.     "  Perhaps  the  most  influential  book  ever  written  on  the 

subject  of  Education."  —  R.  H.  Quick. 090 

Pestalozzi's  Leonard  and  Gertrude.    "  if  we  except '  Emile '  only,  no 

more  important  educational  book  has  appeared,  for  a  century  and  a  half,  than 

'  Leonard  and  Gertrude.' " — The  Nation.  .......         0.90 

Richter's  Levana ;  or  the  Doctrine  of  Education.    "  A  spirited 

and  scholarly  book. "  —  Prof.  W.  H.  Payne 1.4.0 

Bosmini'S   Method    in    Education.     "  The  most  important  pedagogical 

work  ever  written."  —  Thomas  Davidson 1.50 

Malleson's  Early  Training  of  Children.  "  The  best  book  for  mothers 

I  ever  read."  —  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody. 0.75 

Hall's   Bibliography  of  Pedagogical   Literature.    Covers  every 

department  of  Education ji.So 

Peabody's  Home,  Kindergarten  and  Primary  School  Educa- 
tion. "The  best  book  outside  of  the  Bible  I  ever  read."  —  A  Leading 
Teacher i.oo 

Ne'WSholme's  School  Hygiene.     Already  in  use  in  the  leading  training 

colleges  in  England 0.75 

DeGarmo's  Essentials  of  Method.  "  It  has  as  much  sound  thought  to 
the  square  inch  as  anything  I  know  of  in  pedagogics."  —  Supt.  Balliet, 
Springfield,  Mass. 0.65 

Hall's  Methods  of  Teaching  History.  "  Its  excellence  and  helpful- 
ness ought  to  secure  it  many  readers." —  The  Nation 1.50 

Seidel'S  Industrial  Education.  "  It  answers  triumphantly  all  objections 
to  the  introduction  of  manual  training  to  the  public  schools."  —  Charles  H. 
Ham,  Chicago 0.90 

Badlam's  Suggestive  Lessons  on  Language  and  Reading. 
.       "  The  book  is  all  that  it  clain;s  to  be  and  more.     It  abounds  in  material  that 

will  be  of  service  to  the  progressive  teacher."  —  Supt.  Dutton,  New  Haven.         :.5o 

RedAvay's  Teachers'  Manual  of  Geography.  "  Its  hints  to  teachers 
are  invaluable,  while  its  chapters  on  '  Modern  Facts  and  Ancient  Fancies  '  will 
be  a  revelation  to  many."  —  Alex,  E.  Frve,  Author  of  ^^  The  Child  in 
Nature.''^        .............        0.61, 

Nichols'  Topics  in  Geography.  "Contains  excellent  hints  and  sug- 
gestions of  incalculable  aid  to  school  teachers."  —  Oakland  {Cal.)  Tribune.     >        0.65 

^!^^20%  discount  to  Teachers. 


D.  C.  HEATH  &  CO.,  Publishers, 

BOSTON,    NEW  YORK  AND  CHICAGO. 


B  3492 1 


541730 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 


